A giant dose of culture
On Saturday 26 January 2012 there was a crazy last minute cultural trip. The general direction for lovers of theatre from the Greater Manchester area was the Polish Social and Cultural Centre in London (POSK, for short).
The main objective of the trip was a theatrical spectacle with a poetical and musical theme. The organiser was the actor Pawel Zdun from Manchester who belongs to the Scena Poetycka (eng. Poet's Stage) in London, which prepared the whole event.
The visit was a great success from all points of view, both from cultural artistic and organisational aspects bearing in mind the distance travelled. The comfortable journey in a luxury coach and the sunny weather made the time fly. The atmosphere in the coach lent itself to a day of culture and friendship.
However the most important part of this trip was the excellently prepared musical/poetical spectacle based on the creativity of Agnieszka Osiecka under the title: “A wariatka jeszcze tanczy” (eng. The crazy woman dances)- which is the 27th production of the Scena Poetycka. This was the theatrical premiere of the show in POSK - however a private showing of this excellent theatrical spectacle had taken place in the Jazz Cafe on the 23 November 2011.
The authors of the production are Helena Kaut-Howson and Magdalena Włodarczyk. Wlodarczyk was responsible for the whole production as well as writing and performing in the show. The composition of the whole show was a series of individual very intimate dialogues, tragic-comic monologues and of the lyrical songs of the poet and author of the texts with the main role of the heroine of the evening Agnieszka Osiecka.
The show allowed the audience to come closer to the complicated and very unusual character of Agnieszka Osiecka. The nature of the production excellently showed the duality and varied aspects of her lyrical and very feminine nature and showed the many life scenarios in which the poet functioned.
The songs, dialogue, humour and also the drama created a colourful spectacle which can be highly recommended and which brought to life an authentic picture Agnieszka Osiecka - firstly a woman, then a poet and finally one of us.
Special attention must be given to the way the actors, despite the intimate staging, created very realistic, deeply psychological and at the same time authentic figures.
The songs sung by the actors created a climate showing the spirit of the difficult communist times which were more than just a backdrop for the life of Agnieszka Osiecka.
With pleasure I will add the words written by Elzbieta Sobolewska in the program for the spectacle about Agnieszka Osiecka:
”(...)the songs of Osiecka, enriched by the music of the best Polish composers, are still enormously popular. As a result we love to listen to them because they offer us the gift and pleasure of emotion."
The above words are the best recommendation of this excellently prepared production which I encourage everyone to see.
The cast of the spectacle: Paweł Zdun(waiter), Dorota Zięciowska (Agnieszka), Magdalena Włodarczyk (Krystyna/Agata), Joanna Kańska (Elżbieta), Daniel Łuszczki (piano) and Barbara Zdziarska (violin).
Musical direction was by Maria Drue and Daniel Łuszczki. Magdalena Rutkowska was responsible for the set design. Tomasz Milasz assisted with the staging and decoration.
The choreography was done by the actor Paweł Zdun, sound and lighting was by Mariusz Pardela. The costumes for the show were designed by the actress Joanna Kańska. Direction and the organisation of the show were under the care of Jolanta Protheroe.
Joanna Dudzic
Article first publuished in www.manchesterinfo.co.uk
Translated by Janek Kaczmarek
