Balladina

Maja Spychaj-Kubacka Bartłomiej Olszewski Włodzimierz Jasinski

In the original, “Grotesque” interpretation of Juliusz Słowacki's Balladina, the two-level world of the presented piece (the world of elves and the world of people) was translated into the world of actors and the world of dolls. The relations between the animator and the puppet object relate to the spirit and matter of Słowacki's story.

By weaving the story of Goplan and Balladin from the artistic material of the theater, it was possible to build a stage world based on the unlimited freedom of poetic imagination, without binding references to the principles of logic, psychology or the realistic order of truth and probability. Thus, the tale acquired the characteristic features of the poetics of its literary prototype - it took the form of a fairy tale, legend, myth... Balladyna's theatricalization of the world allowed at the same time to show the phenomenon of evil through the possibility of its transformation in a system of mutual references of stage and non-ascent reality. On the other hand, the interpretation of the relationship of the world of spirits and people as the actor-animator and the object of his manipulation - the doll, made it possible to present the problem of freedom of the individual and the nation, so relevant for understanding the philosophy and historiosophy of the author Kordian.

Award of the Puppet Theatre Section of the Association of Artists of Polish Scenes named after Prof. Władysław Jarema for acting for Aldona Jankowska, Włodzimierz Jasiński and Franciszek Muła

XXII National Festival of Puppet Theaters in Opole (October 15, 2005)

2nd equivalent prize at the Festival Dramaty Narodów - Polish Romantic Drama (first prize not awarded) Kraków, November 2005

Rarely in our theatres are such pure, clear performances, poetic and moving at the same time, in which everything agrees. The director's logical reasoning is translated into the stage world of people and dolls, the tension-building music resonates with the scenography, leading to the final thunderbolt, the impact of which breaks the tangled thread of the criminals' lives. And in the ears of the spectators will remain a deaf sound of stones hitting each other, which will be difficult to forget long after the end of the performance.

Magda Huzarska “The Krakow Gazette”

The performance of the Groteska Theater interestingly uses the ambiguity of the relationship between the doll and the actor. A simple procedure allows to extract philosophical depth from Słowacki's text. The actors play characters belonging to the supernatural world — Goplan, Chochlik and Skierka. The figures of people are dolls, constantly before our eyes subjected to manipulation. This formula shows the smallness and fallibility of a man entangled in the modes of history, the actions of which he is unable to perceive and predict.

Aleksandra Kamińska “Dziennik Teatralny Cracow”