Based on "Antigone" by Sophocles, translated by Stanisław Hebanowski
Creators: CHOREA Theatre, Kana Theatre
Direction: Dorota Porowska
Music: Tomasz Krzyżanowski
Choreography: Zuzanna Adamkiewicz, Małgorzata Lipczyńska, Dorota Porowska, Janusz Adam Biedrzycki
Light and sound: Tomasz Krukowski
Premiere cast: Bibianna Chimiak, Julia Jakubowska, Małgorzata Lipczyńska, Dorota Porowska, Janusz Adam Biedrzycki, Hubert Domański, Piotr Starzyński, David Sypniewski.
Premiere location: Teatr CHOREA, Łódź
Premiere date: 24.10.2009, Fabryka Sztuki in Lodz
The second version of the performance has been played since: 01.03.2010
Choreography: Zuzanna Adamkiewicz, Małgorzata Lipczyńska, Dorota Porowska, Janusz Adam Biedrzycki, Eliza Hołubowska
Cast: Bibianna Chimiak, Julia Jakubowska, Dorota Porowska, Hubert Domański, Piotr Starzyński, David Sypniewski, Eliza Hołubowska
Hardly curbing its Dionysian power, the chorus enters the orchestra, i.e. the ritual dancing square. It is a collective entity and an impersonation of the nation’s soul. Dionysus is the leader, which results from the very nature of the ancient theatre. The god of debauchery, insanity and ecstatic surges is being contained by a system of strict grammatical and stylistic rules of language. Entrance of the chorus – parodos: raising a leg, striking a foot to confirm the uttered truth which thus becomes binding, freezing, and waiting as the dumb testimony of something happening.
The formal analysis of the ancient tragedy chorus, its speech, gesture and movement strategy, closed in the form of musical melodeclamation, is the theme of the artistic project developed for the last few years as a result of cooperation between Kana Theatre from Szczecin and CHOREA. We have chosen a classical tragedy. This time, we have decided to consistently follow the Sophocles’ playwrighting idea. Someone may find the below declarations perverse, but our intention is not to interpret it anew or perform it in a modern way but to make this play as close to the original as possible. We are far from psychological games and digressing about the rightness of the bases, especially taking into account the fact that the next generations of our fellow citizens still hold the judgement over the characters of the play in classroom and taking part in the discussion involving this topic became pointless a long time ago. The only thing for me to do now, while breaking through the stream of glittering words, is to make myself aware of all the altars, rhythm cascades, falling feet, audience’s sadness, setting sun and the wandering of sounds in that theatre. So, as in the Greek Theatre, the chorus and actors sing about their quandaries and feelings. While sliding through numerous world dance conventions, they create something like a cosy and only a little lofty opera. The chorus singing in ancient Greek is accompanied by modern music by Tomasz Krzyżanowski, entering into a clear and sharp dialogue with the Antiquity. We have created an eclectic, and thus incorrect, work in order to come a little closer to the divine catharsis.
Dorota Porowska
