Events
In its form the performance is close to documentary theatre, it shows modern Polish reality by presenting two contradictory narrations. One is aggressive, broadcasted by noisy media, national and patriotic, implying our identity should be built on the foundations of history. The other one is happening somewhere out of the limelight, it doesn’t get through to the media, because it is not attractive enough, there are no fights, no bravado, no strikes or casualties. It is written by “ordinary” people, interested in others, open, who try to make the world a better place on a local scale, without publicity or ideology. In the performance their words are used to counterbalance the parodies of political debates, the craze to reconstruct uprisings and battles, the grotesque worship of revenge, mourning and martyrdom. Contrasting those two very different attitudes Teatr Ósmego Dnia juxtaposes the truth of a documentary with the language of exaggerated expressiveness, simplicity and modesty with visual effects. As a result we get a performance which is funny on the one hand, but on the other it reveals the annoying, disturbing or absurd aspects of Polish reality. Pieces of documentaries “I am an ordinary Pole” by Monika Redzisz (Zorka Project) and “Zdzichu, don’t embarrass yourself” by Grzegorz Sroczyński, newspaper articles and quotes from public figures were used in the performance.
Teatr Ósmego Dnia is the most recognized Polish theatre company which started as an alternative student theatre in the 60s. They staged more than 40 performances, which they presented in Europe, America, Asia. Many of those performances are recognized as an important voice of the independent culture in Poland. Today the theatre is known as the theatre engaged in the public life of the country, commenting the most important political and social events.