Makbet ŁK’a, szepty i podszepty

The journey on which the now legendary Łódź Kaliska group is taking us lasts … 15 minutes. But we assure you that it is worth it! The more so since, after the shortest festival show, we invite the whole audience to an exhibition and a personal meeting with the artists, including our guest, Michał Urbaniak, the outstanding Polish musician, violinist and saxophonist. Let the artists speak:

Connections with Shakespeare’s :Opera with Macbeth”
1. To tell the truth, the Opera is not an adaptation of “Macbeth” but
2. The figures in the “Opera” fight for domination on stage – just like figures from “Macbeth” fight for power.
3. The figures in “Macbeth” enter the action from a certain event – the return from battle – and end the tale with the choice of the new king of Scotland. Similarly, the action of the “Opera” begins haphazardly and ends the same. It is also a fragment of life. Like a piece of meat cut from a sausage – it is always part of a greater whole.
4. The “Opera” and “Macbeth” leave the audience helpless.

For some time, we have been looking at the Andrzej problem of ambition. Such a mechanism of internal imperative and compulsion, which every person feels (one more, one less), towards progress or the achievement of higher social levels or personal perfection. (…) We concentrate on this negative and disastrous side of ambition. Such is “Macbeth”, because it says that ambition leads to crime, and even justifies it. Crime, political annexation, war are all at an absurdly high level of divagation. The only higher thing can be the last judgement and the end of the world. Ambitions often do not allow people to reach understanding and, paradoxically, they begin to slow down development instead of aiding it. In Shakespeare, the witches, hags, uncommon women tell Macbeth that he should be more ambitious – even become king. But do they only waken the ambitions already lying within him, or do they arouse new ones? Do they waken things already there or create new ones? Does Macbeth remain himself or is he subject to manipulation? We are all Macbeths, but on a smaller scale. The question arises: how much of Macbeth is there in each of us? Are promptings capable of making monsters of us? Can we defend ourselves against them?

Marek Janiak, “Constant moaning and complaining are a waste of time”, Onet.pl

The “Łódź Kaliska” artistic group has been operating non-stop since 1979 with the same members: Marek Janiak, Andrzej Kwietniewski, Adam Rzepecki, Andrzej Świetlik, Andrzej Wielogórski (Makary. They were later joined by Andrzej Bit, when Andrzej Kwietniewski left. Łódź Kaliska consumed cultural scripts and survived all artistic -isms; from all cultural cliches it gleaned everything that was healthiest and most pleasant – vigour from dadaists, surrealist wit, leadership drive from futurists, energy from happenings and performance, pop-art fame, glamour and marketing “genius” in its modern understanding. For some time, however, the Kalisz group cooperated with the “old” media avant-garde but their ways soon parted because of anarchistic radicalism. The boys from Łódź Kaliska happily embraced impersonation, the seeming identification with the attitudes they were fighting, the decontextualisation of material taken from visual culture and generally having a good time.

Ada Florentyna Pawlak, anthropologist, lawyer, art historian, academic lecturer

The evening’s programme also includes an exhibition by artists associated with the group and a meeting with the artists, including our guest, Michał Urbaniak, the outstanding Polish musician, violinist and saxophonist. Cast Sławek Macbeth – Sławek Bit Makary Macbeth – Andrzej Wielogórski (Makary) Adam Macbeth – Adam Rzepecki Marek Macbeth – Marek Janiak Andrzej Macbeth – Andrzej Świetlik Michał Macbeth – Michał Urbaniak

Cast

Sławek Macbeth – Sławek Bit
Makary Macbeth – Andrzej Wielogórski (Makary)
Adam Macbeth – Adam Rzepecki
Marek Macbeth – Marek Janiak
Andrzej Macbeth – Andrzej Świetlik
Michał Macbeth – Michał Urbaniak
Jacek Macbeth – Jacek Franasik
Soprano – Karolina Szymańska-Maziarz
Three Graces

Premiere – 14.10.2022
Language – Polish with English surtitles
Duration – 15 minutes

Partnerem spektaklu jest firma ASTE Sp. z o.o.