SCENE Writing.
Krystian Lupa, Polish theater director, set designer and writer, considered one of the most influential European theater men, today 78 years old, continues to provoke reflections and intense emotions, always transgressive for breaking the rules not only of the show, but those of the other theatricality that concerns us all, without borders, immersed in everyday life.
Theater in its deepest sense is a ritual sacrifice of man or a spectacle of insight into his humanity – and yet into both God and faith – as energy. , a state of mind that allows man to transcend himself – becomes the central motif. God is the core of man – even that “unbeliever”, faith is a deep spiritual act, even when it manifests as a crisis or a rejection. Faith in the context of deity is something inalienable, archetypal: its drama often takes place alongside or below individual human consciousness. The theater is the place where the ritual transformation of all this takes place…
His latest plays are “Capri – the Island of Fugitives” at Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw (2019) and “Austerlitz” at Valstybinis Jaunimo Teatras in Vilnius (2020). Lupa is a master at creating stage realities with a personal language in which he involves the cast and production team to generally inconceivable limits, as in this case of imagine, in which work has been allowed in two parts, each of two hours and twenty minutes, with a break of half an hour. In short, more than 5 hours in a room, receiving the counterpart of John Lennon’s dreamy Imagine, through images where many extreme situations are juxtaposed in a concert of voices and body expressions of rare authenticity.
Lupa often translates and adapts the texts she puts on stage, simultaneously designing the scenery and directing all of these productions. The quality of her theater is due to the strength of the performance, which is often considered “invisible” or “transparent”, thanks to performers who become almost completely attached to the characters they play.
He has been awarded numerous outstanding awards including the Leon Schiller Award (1992), the European Theater Award (2009), the Nestroy Theater Award (2014), and the Golden Cross Award for the Stage (2016).
Warning: the show contains full nudity and explicit sex.
IMAGINE is an artistic journey to the world of counterculture, to the times of identity and the cultural revolution of the 60s and 70s. Krystian Lupa uses the lyrics of Imagine by John Lennon as a starting point and wonders about the vivacity of utopias in today’s world, in which spirituality has been commercialized or politicized and humanist values, human rights, equality and personal freedom have been devalued.
The director returns to the psychological and spiritual phenomenon of the New Age and to the life and creation of John Lennon, who as the “new Christ” of the hippie era proposed to imagine a world without wars, countries and borders, without hatred or property, but also without religion.
Are the visions of the New Age a mere naivety in our times? Is faith in an endless evolution of humanity and metaphysics a fantasy or an eternal need of humanity? Why did the pacifist ideal fail so quickly in the 1970s? Is the need for spiritual transformation greater in times of crisis?
A SHOW IN THE ORIGINAL POLISH VERSION WITH SUBTITLES IN SPANISH.
The show is performed within the international project “Prospero Extended Theatre”, thanks to the support of the European Union’s “Creative Europe” programme.
DURATION: 5 hours 10 minutes approx.
1st part: 2 hours 20 minutes approx.
Intermediate: 25/30 min approx.
2nd part: 2 hours 20 minutes approx.
Direction, script and scenery: Kristian Magnifying Glass
Music: Bogumil Misala
Locker room: Pyotr Skiba
Production manager: Michalina Zemla
Video: Joanna Kakitek, Natan Berkowicz
Director’s assistant: David Koht
Stage direction: Iza Stolarska
Costume Design Assistant: Aleksandra Harasimowicz
Cast: Karolina Adamczyk, Grzegorz Artman, Michał Czachor, Anna Ilczuk, Andrzej Kłak, Michał Lacheta (Teatr Powszechny in Lodz), Mateusz Łasowski, Karina Seweryn, Piotr Skiba (guest), Ewa Skibińska, Julian Świeżewski, Marta Zięba (guest of the Warsaw Teatr Studio).
A co-production of Warsaw’s Teatr Powszechny and Łódź’s Teatr Powszechny.
The Krystian Lupa Company presents its «Imagine» at the Teatros del Canal