Zone 0

How does a little girl feel when suddenly mom in the middle of the night pulls her out of sleep and leads her out of the house into the dark? And this is just the beginning of the nightmare that adults have prepared for her. The children of emigrants pay a high price for the decisions of their parents. Torn from their environment, without any influence on their fate, they become hostages in the dehumanized world of official decisions. Magdalena Drab's play Zone 0 is a story about a refugee family caught in the middle of heartless bureaucratic absurdities. The performance begins with the entry on the stage of the “little princess”, the beloved little girl who until now lived happily under the care of caring parents. For a moment, the little girl does not know that in a moment her safe house will become only a foggy memory, and the “little princess” will become a “sleeping queen”. The author, moved by the reportage, created a story full of horror about the escape from the brutal regime, marked by death and humiliation, and the humiliation of emigrant life. An ordinary family of four must make decisions, the consequences of which are life and death. How is a little girl supposed to find herself in this hell? What can a child do in a situation that outgrows adults? She can just fall asleep... The inspiration for Magdalena Drab was Dorota Borodaj's reportage entitled Children sleep with fear. Every year, more than 100 refugee children fall into a coma, illustrated by Tomasz Kaczor's photographs.

The program of the show is here.

From reviews:

“This is one of the most interesting performances of Wrocław theatre because of its rare subject and interesting form — demanding, but necessary and important. Everyone can see in it the reflection of their thoughts, prejudices and imaginary fears. As long as we can sympathize, we have a chance to wake up” (Marcin Wojciechowski, Oh Kultura).

“A performance (...) with dramatic music by Albert Pyśek and moving roles of Miłosz Pietruski (Father), Lina Wosik (Mother) and the highly applauded young Patrycja Płaczek (Girl), as well as the surprisingly sadistic Mariusz Bąkowski (Professional Man) and the insidious Ewa Niemotko (The Disgusting Man) Delightful). (...) A very important show, deeply examining contemporary innocent traumas. Played in the convention of a surreal nightmare and with strongly sounding problems that are rarely discussed in the context of children” (Ewa Mecner, Artistic Perspective).

Warnings:

smoke appears in the show (e.g. from a cigarette).

There are profanities in the play.