Performance / New Yorick

Teatr Powszechny im. Zygmunta Hübnera w Warszawie / Polska

Zimowa Opowieść

dir. Pamela Leończyk

Date

july 28 / 19.00 / 90 min / no age limit

Competition for the New Yorick

The competition is aimed at young artists debuting in the Polish theatre and is intended to encourage them to read and re-enact the works of William Shakespeare, to seek answers for contemporary problems in his works, and to test new theatrical forms with their help.

The New Yorick statuette will be awarded as a part of the 27th international Shakespeare Festival. Three presentations will be competing for it, produced by the laureates together with the theatres invited to cooperate by the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre – the Polish Theatre in Poznań, the Helena Modrzejewska Theatre in Legnica and the Powszechny Theatre from Warsaw.

The competition received 27 entries from direction students from all schools in Poland, directors at the beginning of their careers, and artistic collectives. The selection was made by the heads of the above-mentioned theatres – Maciej Nowak, Jacek Głomb, Paweł Sztarbowski – who chose three adaptations. Each of the productions will be funded by the organisers of the international Shakespeare Festival with 25,000 PLN as the monetary part of the prize. They will be presented as ‘work in progress’ during the festival and judged by an international jury consisting of: Eleanor Skimin, Jacek Kopciński, and Aneta Mancewicz.

Artist about the performance

Betrayal is probably the most inflammatory subject in a romantic relationship. It is an act of transgression which tears a couple away from ties, closeness and their identity hitherto. It leads to quick judgments and trauma, which, untreated, has an extraordinary ability to be transmitted to the surroundings. Leontes’s jealousy, which, like a snare, consumes all aspects of the protagonist’s life, arouses a pathological obsession within him and leads to destruction. Can he, however, as a man, a father and a king, behave in any other way?
Shakespeare’s dramaturgy resonates strongly with the reality in which it is displayed. In the times of the ever-more-popular “therapy culture”, the production of “A Winter’s Tale” begins the discussion where it would normally be ended. Today, as a society, we are open to the subject of sex like never before but infidelity is still covered by a cloud of overpowering secrecy and shame. In a new interpretation, Leontes’s destructive actions are dictated by the influence of the expectations and pressure which he experiences as a “cuckold”. Hermione’s lament is even more poignant if we discern in her not just a loving wife and mother but also a woman seeking to satisfy her sexual needs. An understanding of betrayal does not mean its justification but trusting only in reason does not lead to much. The visualisation of the trauma arising in the protagonists forces us to consider the possibility of commencing a therapeutic conversation.

About the artists

Daria Sobik – dramaturge, playwright. Graduate of Cultural Studies at Śląsk University and Knowledge of Theatre at the Jagiellonian University. Finalist and twice semi-finalist in the Gdynia Dramaturgical Prize competition, finalist in the New Dramaturgy Stage in the Wanda Siemaszkowa Theatre in Rzeszów, finalist in the Young(er) Poland competition in the Narodowy Stary Theatre in Kraków, semi-finalist in the dramaturgical competition in the Rozmaitości Theatre in Warsaw entitled “Nigdy nie będziesz szła sama”. In 2020, she was honoured with the Theatrical Award from the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship for outstanding achievements in the field of theatre. As a dramaturge, she has worked on many productions, including “Sprawa. Dzieje się dziś” by Martyna Majewska at the Polski Theatre in Bydgoszcz, “niezgoda.jpg” by Justyna Łagowska at the Zagłębie Theatre in Sosnowiec, “Wycinanki. List z morza” by Yojiro Ichikawa at the Polski Theatre in Bydgoszcz and the New National Theatre in Tokyo, “Motyle” by Emilia Piech at the Polski Theatre in Bydgoszcz and “Tęsknica” by Pamela Leończyk at the Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw. Her plays were published by the “Dialog” monthly (“Zmęczone”, no. 3, 2023) and “Notatnik Teatralny” (“Tęsknica”, March 2023).


Creators

Director – Pamela Leończyk
Adapted by – Daria Sobik
Translation into Polish – Piotr Kamiński
Music – Magdalena Sowul / Panilas
Lighting director – Piotr Pieczyński

Cast

Karolina Adamczyk, Grzegorz Artman, Aleksandra Bożek, Mikołaj Śliwa

Performance of a work-in-progress, whose premiere will take place in the Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw.

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