Review: A MASCULINE DRAMA at Teatr Wspolczesny Wroclaw

We love to generalize, to put an individual in a common box labeled with all the qualities, or most often with faults, and then, let's close the box and make sure that nothing can come out. Marcin Libera fights with a lot of generalizations in Teatr Wspolczesny Wroclaw's new production.

It's funny, it's wise, you laugh but then you realize that you're laughing at yourself and then you start to think. Firstly, I loved the fact that in a story about men, there are women. The female chorus makes the whole show more real and grounded. After all, we are also part of this world and cowboy clothes look good on both sexes.

There are various threads that we follow during the show, we all know them from our lives (unfortunately), but they open a door to discussion about the myth of masculinity and the definition of a man in general. It’s not only presenting them but looking for their genesis. Taking it out of a child is about a father and a son, not only the second one. All stories from our past are like a system of connected vessels and again, those scenes make us think. I loved the hilarious dating scene, as we all know at least one man who is unready to love and scared of intimacy (aren’t we?), it’s a blast, firstly to laugh at them (but maybe we should cry?), and secondly to see not only one but a whole herd of them. The cast is great and they are making those scenes so intense that there are moments when the air is getting thick.

Surprisingly, the male creators (Libera and Jakub Tabaczek who wrote it) can look at this mess with distance and perspective. It is refreshing. There are also more brutal scenes that make me uncomfortable simply because they are so true. The director is getting to the audience by short messages on the screen like small and tender love letters as the director thus seals closeness not only at the level of topic but also communication. If there is a REAL man, does he necessarily need a motorcycle?

This show is very true but not trivial or revolutionary; honest and courageous in its simplicity. Without too much complexity but delicately, it shows how difficult it is to define masculinity (for both sexes). Men are different and unique, even if they wear the same clothes, they can be hurt, sad, aggressive, vulnerable, crazy, and lost. That's life. And it's rather moving or funny, so there we bring together our traumas until the last scene which melts your heart when Ewa Niemotko wraps you in cosmic softness. So, maybe not everything is lost.

Photo: Natalia Kabanow

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