Ferris wheel

Eric Assous

DIABELSKI MŁYN - komedia (The roller coaster)

translation: Barbara Grzegorzewska

direction, scenography and musical development: Andrzej Dopierała

costumes: Ewa Dopierała

light: Maria Machowska/Sergiusz Brożek

soundtrack: Mirek Witek

cast:

She — Agnieszka Radzikowska

He — Andrzej Dopierała

An aged straw widower, he meets a young girl in a bar and invites her home. Banal?

As the heroine of the play says - many will recognize each other. Eric Assous' “Ferris Wheel” at Theatre Without a Stage, is spinning really fast. This is an invitation to a crazy theatrical ride at the intersection of comedy and tragicomedy, farce and tragicomedy, drama and melodrama. In this comedy of human weakness and ridiculousness, nothing will be obvious until the very end. As on a Ferris wheel in an amusement park, we will ascend with a compressed stomach up, and after a moment with bated breath, descend down to purifying laughter and tears of emotion.

Betrayal? Revenge? Blackmail? Manipulation? Or something completely different?

REVIEWERS ABOUT THE SHOW

Monika Adamczyk, Dziennik Teatralny

“The theatre season in Silesia ended with a strong accent, overshadowing recent dramatic events.

The captivating beauty of the production of “Devil's Mill” shows that even with the help of a few people, with a small amount of resources, using very limited technical and scenographic facilities — it is possible to show great theater and art through the big Sz.”

“How seldom does a word, an actor's gesture, or original design solutions appeal to the viewer.”

“What at first seemed only a light, somewhat boring story becomes a cover for asking important, impermanent questions. ”

“Dopierała and Radzikowska, without shying away (...) from the spice, manage to balance on a fine line between a subtle joke and a primitive farce with the grace of a real ballerina, playing with the audience variations with erotic overtones (...) they show real acting art, emphasizing again and again what great workshop and preparation means. A creation that is refined to the smallest detail.”

“Theatre Without a Stage deserves another merit — restoring faith in ambitious and independent dramatic art.”

full article at: http://www.dziennikteatralny.pl/artykuly/historie-rozporkowe-a-egzystencjalne-dramaty.html

Monika Gorzelak, Dziennik Teatralny, Katowice, 04 July 2012

The “Ferris Wheel” in the release of this duo rises to the rank of devil art. The devil is not only in the details, but between the words - the author (Eric Assous) and the director of the play (Andrzej Dopierała). Once again, the theater receives a speech...

Assous is not inferior to the master of farce - Ray Cooney, (author of Mayday). Both Dopierała and Radzikowska are excellent at extracting situational comedy and wordplay from French art, but the text in Dopierała is “only” a pretext. Much more interesting things happen here, beyond the comic plot and language.

“Ferris Wheel”, a situational comedy, is more than sophisticated and completely unpredictable

(...) is a piece of life — between words. Theater, simply. For the positively twisted.

“Between Dopierała and Radzikowska there is a kind of stage agreement, theatrical chemistry and madness. There is tension, there is sympathy, tenderness and situational humor.”

“Humorous, macabre, morality (...)? For everyone, something different.”

full article at: http://www.dziennikteatralny.pl/artykuly/diabelska-sztuka-czyli-komedia-inaczej.html

Ewa Drab, Portal Katowicki (...) Andrzej Dopierała, in this case not only an excellent actor, but also a director, set designer and author of a musical development. On stage, he is accompanied by the equally brilliant and freely juggling conventions Agnieszka Radzikowska, together they present the relationship of the main characters in an engaging, bittersweet, predatory, lively and often extremely funny way.”

“The modernity of the scenography and the dynamics of the performance perfectly intensify the message, situating the action in a contemporary that is based on moral freedom, putting on masks and emotional confusion.”

(...) although it is funny, penetrating and brilliant, “Ferris Wheel” quickly reveals its dramatic face to the audience.

full article at: http://www.e-teatr.pl/pl/artykuly/149274.html

Rehearsal in the Szwallnia/photo: Krzysztof Lisiak

more pictures

General rehearsal/photo by Krzysztof Lisiak

Premiere/photo by Krzysztof Lisiak

Preparations for the presentation at the Korez Theater as part of the Summer Theater Garden 2014/photo: Jeremi Astaszow

more to draw

Chorzów Garden Theatre 2013/Photographs by Radosław Ragan

10.03.2024/Photos Agnieszka Uchrońska-Kowalska