So good, so precise and so innovative show it's a real pearl, and oh my, how good it is...
Everything has its own place here, voices, costumes, moves, scenography, and the queen herself - Grzegorz Ciechowski's music. It's like a well-tailored 5 part suit, elegant and sophisticated but still accessible, and making your life better.
The director, Wojciech Koscielniak, took the Musical Theater of Poznan ensemble to the next level, there are very individual but together they make an amazing team that brings the artistry to absolute perfection. They are playing along and even though they are characteristic they make a great plastic mass that is moving and creating an unusual perspective on the scene. Actors sing as they come. Each song brings different chills to your back. Beach and bikini would never be the same after you hear the melancholic and magnetic voice of Lala (Katarzyna Tapek, one of my favorite parts!). You will look for a lighter while hearing "we will set fire" (sang amazingly by Marta Burdynowicz), you would check your measurement after a song of mediocrity, and you put on your dancing shoes while you are listening to the tango song. The last bloody song would leave you speechless and out of breath. After a second you will know for sure: this is the next level of musical, absolutely beyond limits and imagination. I'm a huge fan of Dagmara Rybak (Suku) and Marcin Januszkiewicz (Jan) duo, they have amazing chemistry, and gosh, how they sing... Their voices are simply unstoppable even with unusual body position, an Artistry of the best kind. She's totally out of this world like a mix of
Tinker Bell and the crazy cat you see on the roof of the neighboring building every morning. Jan is sharp and deep, full of emotions and power (both dark).
There are many different layers and at some point, you are wondering if vulnerability and sensitivity will break the concrete. Watching the main characters trying to look for redemption makes me think about Little Prince visiting new planets. The level of philosophy and human absurds is the same. The voyage is long and full of surprises and rough experiences but without it, we cannot be free.
Anna Chadaj was responsible for costumes and they fit the piece's general view perfectly. It's all grey but characteristics and hair styles deserve a special award, there is something odd and perfectly fitting in this entourage. It's a pure pleasure even to look at actors, cosmic and funky. During the hypnotization song, you feel like you hallucinate underwater, the costumes are a visualization of pure imagination. Wow.
Choreography made by Ewelina Adamska-Porczyk is stunning. The group scenes are powerful and colorful even when all we can see in the scenes are a range of grey colors. Dance is like a true language here, more powerful than words proving that a group is a power. Every piece is measured, and you will fall in love with the grace of bikini ladies, a white demonstration would give you chills, and the power of the passion of tango with Aleksandra Piwowarek is simply unforgettable. The masterpiece of dancing with a dead partner is simply spectacular.
The scenography made by Damian Styrna is cold, metallic, and grey. By the atmosphere the human condition of impotence in the face of oppression from above is transparent, a life is without color, it's a struggle, it's a pain and powerlessness. It's like hearing banging a head against a brick wall. It's simple but absolute enough.
The cherry on the pie is the charismatic duo of dogs (Mateusz Felinski and Maciej Zaruski). They are like an acute synchronized mix of police batons and cockroaches.
The show is brilliant, even with this strange cold sensation resonating from the stage. The Kombinat, a great institution that should protect and make sure that a citizen has everything he needs makes orders, suppressions, and controls limitlessly. We need to witness this. The show is like a tornado. It's dark but this kind of darkness you have to admit in your life from time to time, just to verify your humanity.
Photo: D. Stube
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