Dante Project : Teatr A Part

“Dante Project” is a spectacle-journey, live installation, and theatrical experience for one spectator. In the “Dante Project”, new performance by Teatr A Part, carried out with the participation of adepts of Teatr A Part’s Acting Studio (the Galery of Sensitivity), we continue the artistic quest initiated in the “Alice in Wonderland” prepared two years earlier. The performance in terms of structure refers to the work of the Colombian director Enrique Vargas, the founder of the Teatro de los Sentidos.

The canvas for the performance is Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. As in the famous poem, spectator-Dante, accompanied by a guide Virgil, travels through the underworld to get to know and experience searching for the ideal and beauty imagined by the dead beloved Beatrice. He meets and experiences himself. Hell, purgatory and heaven in the performance of Teatr A Part & Galery of Sensitivity are both metaphorical and realistic, thoroughly contemporary. Derived in equal measure from myths, as well as personal experience of the creators of the show and the realities of the world known to us. The observed without any illusions about the true of human nature. Traveling around the underworld is an emotional journey through the contexts of our own lives, both in the private, historical and social sense. What will modern Dante find in such abysses? In the abyss of yourself, looking at yourself in the show like in the mirror? What is truth for him, cruel knowledge about ourselves, what are the horror, beauty and fragility of human life – our imperfect perfection – in the face of irreversible? Who or what you are, what are you and have you ever been, my Beatrice?

Theatrical experience for 1 spectator. Spectator participates in the show for about 40 minutes. During one cycle of presentations, the show visits 6 viewers at 15 minute intervals.

idea, script, direction, stage design: Marcin Herich

commander of the Galery of Sensitivity, co-director: Monika Wachowicz

script co-operation: the team

arrangement of space, co-operation on set design: Cezary Kruszyna

arrangement of video: Magdalena Krawczyk

cast: Galery of Sensitivity: Sebastian Krańczuk, Magdalena Krawczyk, Tymoteusz Łydek, Katarzyna Pojda, Joanna Runowska, Agata Sokół, Małgorzata Toczek & Alina Bachara, Marcin Herich, Grzegorz Król, Cezary Kruszyna and Monika Wachowicz

music: „Mode 244” by Barbary Monk Feldman and „Ropes in Tears” by Masami Akita

The performance uses fragment of “Divine Comedy” by Dante.

first night performance: Katowice, May 2019

Co-financed by the Self-Government of the Śląskie Voivodeship.

PRESENTATIONS

2019 – Katowice: 18 & 19 May (first night performance), 25 & 26 May, 10 & 11 June (International Performing Arts Festival A Part)

REVIEWS

Body, history, identity
“Dante Project” uses the idea on the basis of which “Alice in Wonderland” was created. The creators of “Dante” again divided the theatre into tight, dark and claustrophobic tunnels, and the team gave key roles to play: “the guardian of the prologue”, a guide to the afterlife (after all, the land of Alice belongs to them) and the tenants of those afterlife, imprisoned there forever, but also having an increasingly modern story about man to convey. And again the guest of this theatre, they left the viewer alone, made him a participant in this suspicious practice. Going through the rabbit hole – I wrote equally two years ago – if we try to understand what it really is in the perspective of modern times, but also literally (if you read it after Tim Burton) – it’s a journey through infernal circles. Those external, conventionalized, established by the creators of the performance, and internal, indelible – which is delineated by the own (viewer) imagination and biography. From the beginning of “Alice” and in particular the “Dante Project” it was known that the “work” of both performances would take place at these two levels. In the layer of image, sound and reaction to them, but the reaction will not be used by the creators as an object. If as part of the performance it was also recorded (monitoring) what subsequent stages, meetings on stage do with the viewer, we would receive a meta level. It would be an interesting experiment – to show the viewer at some end, in the grand final of himself during a collision with someone else’s trauma and antibiography. Not in a literal crooked mirror but face to face, without anesthesia, illusions and intermediaries. I know that this is a great idea, too provocative, even on the scale of interference by Teatr A Part.
At this point, I touch on a fundamental issue (also in the sense of acting ethics). Seemingly, it seems that the viewer of the “Dante Project” is a passive observer of events that on the stage, or more precisely – in the maze, which becomes the stage – are taking place. We dress in Dante’s clothes and traverse the infernal and purgatory circles, keep us in check and the direction of the road is set by strict stage regulations (take any chair, do not turn back, strictly obey the instructions), we are aware of the theatrical convention. But something is out of control (although this slipping out is part of the project’s risk, and even this risk is all about). In fact, almost always, with the exception of the “transition” to Purgatory we maintain a privileged position. Even when we sit in a chair in front of the character standing next to us, we look at her from above. Even when the character interferes with the psychodrama he directed and opens us like a can of cans, we still look at it from the perspective of Scrooge by Dickens, who was presented with a recovery plan. We are a mountain, and although we could break the convention and the border (contrary to the regulations) and try to pull the inhabitant out of the abyss (the actors sometimes played so suggestively that I felt like doing it), we keep cool and pierce the convict with an icy look. These are truly infernal moments when we begin to realize the fragility of the border between real and illusion, the armored armor we put on when we seem to go beyond safe space. Exactly. Are we the viewers who transgress or are we the subject of rape? Is there a border that the theatre should not, after all, cross?
“Alice in Wonderland” was probably not as radical as the “Dante Project”. Yes, we were moving in dangerous terrain, the path of the shadow and even the dark valley, but in contact with the multiplied trauma of “Dante”, with defenseless nudity, which recreates in front of us defenseless nudity, in which evil has invaded with all its impetus, “Alice” seems almost a delicate experience. There is also nothing to believe in the classical, dramatic and theological division into the beyond. Heaven was shortened and limited to a painful banality, hell had no power compared to purgatory – no iconography can replace direct contact with a living tale, maximally compressed – in fact, it was the purgatory in the version of Teatr A Part that turned out to be truly infernal.
I do not know if you remember Kevin Carter’s famous photo – The Child and the Vulture – and the great international scandal that he caused when it came to light that the dying girl starving the war did not help to reach the feeding station. Scandal and discussion on photojournalistic ethics. I am writing about it because “Dante Project” tries to recreate an almost analogous situation (of course using conventions; there is no one-to-one analogy) – there is a victim and there is a voyeur with an abyss between them that cannot be covered with anything. “Dante” is inevitably approaching reportage, meetings in all these boxes (frames) are like claps of the shutter mirror in a camera. We know that the images we see – as in modern photojournalism – we see in order not to look away. Literally – they are supposed to open our eyes when others close them. But the form of this performance, the inevitability of the process (which of course, as viewers agree, although we probably do not realize what we are agreeing to) can be debatable. If I don’t completely oppose such a method, it only happens because I saw photos that changed the course of history. And I agree with Tadeusz Kantor, who once wrote that one does not enter the theatre with impunity.
Radosław Kobierski, “Śląsk” no. 9/2019

Controlled entropy or a song about man
The Teatr A Part together with Galery of Sensitivity strongly reminded in the “Dante Project” about the degree of our dehumanization. The performance – a live installation – has a labyrinth structure, which is followed by the viewer-traveler alone. Inspired by the productions of Teatro de los Sentidos by Enrique Vargas, it blurs the traditional space that separates the actor from the viewer and entangles him in the network of events of which he becomes an active part. The journey – a journey into the beyond – begins with crossing the threshold of the theater. The stairs, flooded with darkness, lead us straight to the sheol throat, deprived of all joy and life. In the overwhelming abyss of darkness, full of disturbing whispers and moans, we encounter terrifying figures in a claustrophobic maze that show us the real hell. Not the one we know from biblical parables but the one that is here on earth. It turns out that the greatest demons have a human form, and the worst hell was born of the darkness that we carry within us. The dichotomy of human nature contains a particle of darkness that we must confront when entering our internal maze. And the violence we commit against other people on a daily basis often has no weight for us, it comes with amazing ease between one cup of coffee and another.
Aneta Zasucha, “Scena” no. 3-4/2019

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

“Intimate and seductive … maybe everything is here, I just need to cool down. Thank you.”
“Terrifying hell, freezing the heart several times, it is possible to catch your breath only in passageways, purgatory with such clear, tangible sadness, mesmerizing eye contact. All this (and much more) adds up to another delightful and disturbing journey through such a carefully woven maze of Teatr A Part. I feel honored that I could take this journey with you. Thanks!”
“That is not possible!!! Get out of the meat grinder and then write anything syntactically … Thank you for the journey. Thank you for the intimacy and focus of every stray soul. ”
“A maze where you can get LOST.”
“Training to be an excellent observer in the face of the abyss of human tragedy.”
“Wandering deep into the soul. Hell sickness, emotional purgatory and free heaven … I was afraid of hell but purgatory touched me the most. Thank you for these moments of reflection on the perception of myself. ”
“God (however strange it may sound) how beautiful it is. I was afraid that I would get lost in this maze, but I always managed to find the right path, which is never so obvious in my life. It’s good to go to hell sometimes to appreciate paradise.”
“Oh, as usual, my brain, my soul survived this hard, beautiful and terrible journey. I was afraid I would get lost. I love you!”
“Thank you for an amazing trip!”
“A beautiful though dark journey, an amazing experience, full of emotions that are hard to stop. Thank you, you are wonderful! ”
“Great respect for actors (through capital” A “) – I’ve never experienced anything similar. Thank you for the evening of amazing experiences … If this is how the path to the light really looks, then maybe I will be prepared for it at least. And … the answer is in me … THANK YOU VERY MUCH! ”
“You were great! Thank you!”
“I’m shocked …”
“I did not expect a theatrical spectacle to go so deeply into emotions. Amazing atmosphere, amazing acting and contact with the viewer. This way of directing is unique . Thank you all very much! Bravo!”
“Moving … This is the first term that comes to mind after this beautiful spectacle. I could expect to experience something extraordinary, but it surpasses my wildest expectations. Cordial admiration for the entire acting team and all the creators of the performance.”
“The light always shines in the dark … Now I have a time of silence. But thank you to everyone who led me. You are great.”
“It penetrates to the bone, bites into the conscience. Please, I’m asking for more!!!”
“Great!!!”
“A dark journey to the light. A performance that strongly influences consciousness. Excellent acting. Contact with the viewer faultless! Thank you very much. Bravo!!! My shivers pass on to the memory. Beautiful!”
“Again, you can look deep inside yourself, seeing the darkest corners of your soul … Your fears, emotional deficiencies. A very informative journey. Thank you…”
“I came back from hell … I will look for answers because now I know where I will find her. Bravo! You are awesome! Thank you.”
“Very emotionally difficult spectacle, moving all cells of the human viewer. Reflecting our path from birth to death, and even further… Very good acting, sometimes you forget that it’s a theatre. Congratulations to the creators of the performance. Thank you!”
“Great Journey – THANK YOU. From Darkness to Light. I would like to cry. But no, I’ll keep going. Thank you very much for showing me the direction of the Mystery of Life. ”
“Phenomenally moving … I will think more deeply if looking in the mirror I see what I would like to see. Tributes to the actors and the director.”
“Oh, damn, it’s better than a therapist. Omm…”
“It was beautiful, full of emotional jihad, the perfect actor’s play, a great introduction and farewell.”
“Sensitivity galleryers have left their mark on my soul …”
“It’s bigger, it’s bigger. Great Fuck, Respect. It is unimaginable.”
“Fascinating experience.”
“A lot of emotions. Thank you. I am glad that I was able to see, be a participant and traveler with you. This performance is not easily forgotten.”
“A wonderful phenomenon …”
“Thank you for the infernal journey. A lot of emotions, very interesting experience.”
“Thank you for all the emotions!”
“It was divine!”
“Great performance! Idea and implementation. Atmosphere and emotions. Bravo!”