“Other” Silesian Puppet and Actor Theater “ATENEUM” in Katowice

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.