The Crack

DESCRIPTION OF THE PERFORMANCE:

"The Crack" is a performance created by the CHOREA Theatre, based on the text of the Norwegian playwright Arne Lygre, translated by Elizabeth Frątczak-Nowotny, and using fragments of poetic texts written by Rumi.

This is not a performance about refugees, who have suddenly lost the roofs over their heads and have to head out into the unknown. This is not a performance about those who do not know where they are going, but only where they came from. This is not a performance about people who have lost their loved ones, yet they still want to live. This is not a performance about those who are losing everything, yet still have hope that they will be able to start their lives anew.

"The Crack" is a performance about you - about us, who have roofs over our heads and plenty of food to eat, yet we still do not realize that we can lose it all, at any moment. That suddenly we can be thrown into the unknown, just because someone, without warning, might drop a bomb on our town, or poison our water, or decide that we do not have any rights to live in our city anymore. This performance is about our fears and about finding hope. And about the fact, that each one of us is, was, or one day will be a refugee, usually not by his own choice.

We read newspapers and watch the news every day. At times we feel like escaping to Noah's ark, or at least to Nepal. But thanks to the work on this performance we feel less helpless in relation to the world which surrounds us (this may sound terribly naive, but it is how I feel). Maybe because the struggle with our own helplessness begins with talking about it, and not turning our eyes away from what is happening. We are looking for a crack, through which a stream of light could shine through, and for a chance to reach the other side of despair.

Six women and one man try to tell, through words, movement and singing, very ordinary stories of people who have lost everything, and have nothing left but hope. Hope, which sometimes turns into a survival instinct, and sometimes into an acceptance of its loss.

I hope that, thanks to our performance, despite the aggression and fear against OTHERS which is growing day by day, we will be able to see people in these others. People like us. When the demons are gone, maybe then the conversation will begin...

INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

CHOREATheatre, founded in 2004 in Lublin, is a vibrant group of artists, performers, musicians, dancers, actors, theatre practitioners and scholars. In 2007, they established a permanent base in Łódź in the post-industrial spaces of Scheibler’s factories, where, together with Łódź Art Centre, they co-founded the Art Factory, whose co-founder and artistic director is Tomasz Rodowicz (director, actor, musician, theatre educator, the founder and leader of CHOREA Theatre).

In its early days, the company conducted research into the sources of dance and music, exploring ancient classical culture. Currently, they focus on modern theatre, music, dance, performance arts and contemporary writing, creating performances that combine tradition and modernity. The ensemble developed an original training method that involves working with the body, voice and rhythm, as well as partner work and group work. The aim of the method is to research movement, sound and words that are woven together into an integrated whole. The company also works with groups of people who face social exclusion. It collaborates with many groups and artists from around the world. Companies under its auspices include the Great Choir of Young CHOREA and a theatre group directed by Janusz Adam Biedrzycki (dancer, actor, choreographer, director and workshop leader), who mounted performances: 'The Ugly' in 2013 and then 'Vidomi' in 2014, a piece created with blind and partially sighted actors. CHOREA members run theatre and music workshops in Poland and beyond. Since 2010, CHOREA has been staging the Retroperspektywy International Theatre Festival. In 2015, the group released a CD, 'Lulabajki', featuring Natalia Przybysz, with music for young and old. In 2016, CHOREA created a textbook, 'Trening fizyczny aktora. Od działań indywidualnych do zespołu' ('The Actor’s Physical Training: From Individual Actions to an Ensemble') in collaboration with the Łódź Film School and the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw.