THE PAPER GUY, dir. Lena Frankiewicz

The action of the play “PAPER GUY” takes place during a single, seemingly ordinary family meeting. Recently widowed Eve is invited to dinner

(Małgorzata Foremniak) and her orphaned son Kuba (Antek Sztaba). To their surprise, the hosts bring an unexpected guest with them. This situation first causes the consternation of the hosts — Eve's brother (Michał Czernecki), her sister-in-law (Viktoria Gorodetskaya) and their daughter (Weronika Humaj). After that, the emotions only grow. The established social roles of wife, husband, mother, son, daughter, so natural to all, are no longer valid. What will happen when the head of the family, who ruled with a firm hand and told how to live, is gone? Chaos creeps in, and unexpected freedom becomes a challenge for everyone. The community of destinies cannot simply be cut, so what can be done so that this connection does not become a trap, but becomes a source of strength?

In Lena Frankiewicz's production, the absurd chases the absurd, and the unexpected, comedic twists force everyone to confront the truth, to rediscover their own identity and determine the new dynamics of female and male roles. After all, we are all caught up in patterns of “symbolic violence” — we unconsciously submit to rules that make us unhappy, believing that this is the way it “must be.”

The director takes patriarchy under the microscope, portraying it as a system that regulates women's lives through rigid expectations about their usefulness, attractiveness, morality and willingness to sacrifice. This hierarchical “paper world” in which we are stuck out of habit or fear seems indestructible. So, at stake is the restoration of the flow of vivid feelings, authentic emotions.

“I wanted to show that even the most difficult situation can be liberating for a person,” says Lena Frankiewicz. - “Paper Guy” tells us about the courage to challenge inviolable patterns and sanctity, what “falls out” and what is “necessary”, about the hope that the end of an era - in the family or in ourselves - can become the beginning something new. — We emphasize the moment of awakening, when a person ceases to see himself through the prism of other people's expectations — adds the director.

Laughter that purifies

The play “Paper Guy” pulsates with energy and a perverse, at times absurd sense of humor. Laughter does not serve to downplay the problems raised in this story, but is a safety valve and a tool for defusing emotional tension, allows to tame traumas, gives space for breathing and reflection. This story ultimately gives hope — it shows that while we cannot change the past, we have an impact on how we build relationships with others now; that closeness is born in sincerity, and that shedding the corset of other people's expectations is the first step to being happy and free.