Other

The story of the hero (the author called him I) sounds at first like a ridiculous tale from a bad dream. One day I suddenly discovers that everyone around me looks, talks, thinks and acts like him. What's more, they are just him. Classmates, teachers, a greengrocer, children in the yard, and even parents! Worst of all, Julka also looks the same, with whom the boy has a special affection... The reality has become absurd and, to tell the truth, unbearable. Well, how to play ball if the players of both teams look identical, which one to score goals for? How to rebel against mom or dad when they are me? At first it is funny, but after a whole day spent exclusively “in your own” company, it ceases to be so funny.

What is the point of this humorous, somewhat philosophical text by the famous Polish playwright Jarosław Murawski? The figure of the Other, with whom I engages in dialogue and confronts its surreal adventure, is the protagonist's alter ego, in which the need to find one's own personality, one's own self, is born slowly. The author addresses the problem of the search for identity here. He draws attention to the ever-present dilemma — especially among children and young people — of being like others, or of being different, which usually changes with age. Just look at the young people around us, who often look (behave, think) almost like clones. Next to them, however, we will see others who already have the desire and courage to express themselves and their own opinion, and at the same time grow up to accept differences. After all, the world is more interesting, richer, more colorful when we differ from each other.

The concept of the show assumes a lively plan with the use of dolls and masks.

The play was commissioned by the Puppet Theater in Bratislava, where the premiere took place in 2020. The realization of the Katowice Ateneum is the first Polish premiere.

GOLDEN MASK for 2024 in the category SPECTACLE FOR YOUNG SPECTATORS

LIKE POLUNIMA for 2024

DIRECTOR AWARD for TOMASZ MAŚLĄKOWSKI for original ideas and unique stage solutions at the 3rd Słupsk 2025 Puppet and Form Theatre Arts Festival

SCENOGRAPHY AWARD for MICHAŁ DRACZ for scenography for a concept combining functionality with unambiguous mobility at the 7th Festival of Small Premieres in Wałbrzych

The performance takes part in the program TEATR POLSKA.

Teatr Polska is a program organized since 2009 by the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute. Every year, more than a dozen of the best performances go on a nationwide tour of the houses of culture in places where there is no institutional theater. The aim of the program is to popularize theatrical art and eliminate economic barriers to access the theater.

More information: www.teatpolska.pl and www.facebook.com/TeatrPolska

The performance took part in the 30th National Competition for the Exhibition of Polish Contemporary Art.

The National Competition for the Exhibition of Polish Contemporary Art aims to reward the most interesting repertory research in Polish theatre, to support domestic dramaturgy in its stage productions and to popularize Polish contemporary drama. The competition is organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute in Warsaw.

In the first stage of the Competition, the performances are evaluated by the Artistic Committee composed of: Jacek Sieradzki (chairman), Dominik Gac, Piotr Hildt, Anna Jazgarska, Szymon Kazimierczak, Andrzej Lis, Wanda Świętkowska.