"HYMNS" directed by Anna Smolar

Premiere 6 March 2020. Akademia Teatralna in Warsaw

Before the premiere, I talked to Anna Smolar, the director of the play

Tomasz Ostrowski: We are talking a few days before the premiere of the play 'Hymns'. This is the last diploma of these students before they leave the walls of the university. They are about to go out into the world. Is this your first experience with acting students?

Anna Smolar: I taught at the Machulski School a few years ago. I have various pedagogical, workshop experiences with children, with young people, also with adults. But this is my first work on a diploma. And it is a special kind of work, because a full-scale performance is to be created, and at the same time it is known that this is a stage of closure, a kind of gate through which the actors pass. There are a lot of emotions involved.

Their graduation performances to some extent project their first career opportunities.

Yes, it is a big responsibility for all of us. Anyway, I was aware of that when I was a jury member at the Festival of Theatre Schools in Łódź, two years ago. I watched students from different schools and had the chance to meet them for the first time through this diploma. It took me a long time to figure out what material to work with, what method to use. The students themselves came to me with the suggestion that I direct their diploma. So I had the feeling that, knowing my performances, they wanted to measure themselves against the working method I usually practise. With semi-documentary material that is partly created in rehearsals. I wanted to offer them this despite the fact that it always involves risk, uncertainty, we are entering the unknown together. But I think it is a valuable experience. To grapple with something that is grey and soft matter.

Before that, you ran a four-day workshop with these students many months ago. Were they already aware that the workshop was an introduction to the graduation performance?

Yes, these workshops were conducted in the perspective of the diploma. We knew I was going to work with them, so we made an appointment to get to know each other. I also really needed that to know what direction to go in with them.

The method is very good, of course, because it's a chance to get to know the students, their interests, workshop abilities and talents, and it allows the creator to prepare an appropriate performance to give these young actors as many chances as possible.

Yes, as much as possible. That's what I wanted this choice to be about, to be authentic. And there was no more vivid and hot topic for them than the situation they found themselves in as a group, finding out that Veronika, one of the students, was pregnant. At the time, Veronika was in the last trimester of her pregnancy, in her eighth month. And the whole situation, their commitment to their studies, while at the same time being a tight-knit group with strong bonds, was moving and inspiring. And it's a topic that is also important to me. Is it possible to be a man of work, a man of art, while at the same time being a very committed carer, according to your own idea of parenthood. The question of care is often relegated to the private sphere. I wanted to bring out this theme by showing it as belonging to the public sphere, which in this case is an institution like the Theatre Academy. Stefania's birth is about a group of people who create together, work together, have obligations to each other, depend on each other. How does this radical change that is the appearance of a child affect them? I wanted the work process itself to be an adventure for us. Being with the child in rehearsals. It's not easy.

At what point in her life did Veronica's daughter find herself rehearsing?

At the beginning of January, when we started rehearsals, Stefania was six months old.

What is very interesting here is that the students, on the occasion of rehearsals, hold parenting workshops.

Absolutely. To be honest, I, at that age, had no idea about how to look after an infant, how it functions, what its needs are, its daily routine. How to entertain them, put them to sleep. They know it all. They received, as you called it well, a parenting workshop, a caregiving workshop, in the package with their diploma. After all, children are not only looked after by their parents, they are also looked after by grandparents, or nannies, nursery workers and so on. This care breaks down. It is said, "it takes a whole village to raise a child". It's worth bringing this saying back and looking at how to practice it, even more so when you live in a big city, separated from the potential community. And when a parent locks themselves away in solitude and retreats to the space of home and invisibility, they generally suffer greatly. Solitude is not good for a parent. Like air, other adults are needed.

Maybe now we can talk about the participation of a several-month-old baby in the show. Don't you think it could be controversial for the audience?

Well, yes, there are bound to be people who think that this is not the right place for a child. That neither a theatre nor an art school is a place for a child. However, we assumed from the beginning that it would be possible, with a minimum of effort, to create a safe and friendly environment for Stefania, and to guarantee Veronika, her mother, a sense of belonging, comfort and acceptance. In no way did Weronika, as an actress, have a concessionary attitude, while everyone understood perfectly that the rhythm of work had to be adapted to the needs of the child. I understand the doubts, they stem from concern, but a change in thinking and perception of the child seems to me to be an urgent social need. By the way, I invite you to a discussion after the performance on Monday 9 March. It is about care as a social phenomenon. About the place of the child in society. About visibility and being there for the parent in the world. And not necessarily the centre of attention. We show a world in which the child is naturally at the side of the parent, surrounded by other adults who care for him and constantly respond to his needs and behaviour, while also living their lives, their affairs. Their role. In my idea of parenting, there is no greater happiness for both parties and harmony. For me, this is what a harmonious path looks like. And that it involves fatigue, a hindered focus, there is a price we pay for closeness and bonding. And yes, Stefania eats crisps off the floor but this is the cleanest place in the whole academy! We take care of a high level of hygiene. The whole institution is already oversensitive about cleaning our ballet room. We play without shoes, all the technique goes in socks. I kind of envy Stefani, she experienced such a time of freedom here, loose play, surrounded by people who competed in entertaining and hugging her. It seems to me that the subliminal performance is an image of an alternative reality. Subliminal because, on the surface, we create a portrait of people who are confined, terrified by the presence of a child. The kind of zombie people who have to face their nightmares when in contact with a child.

What are your immediate theater plans?

I'm starting rehearsals at the Studio Theatre soon. We are working on an adaptation of Edouard Louis' book The End of Eddie. It premieres on 22 May 2020 with the great Studio Theatre company. I am very much looking forward to it.

It is great that we will see your next work in Warsaw. Małgorzata Gorol is also on the list of creators of the play "Hymns". What is her role in the preparation of this performance?

As I told Malgosia about my intention to work with the students on the diploma, she volunteered to take part in the working process as someone who accompanies the actors, observes. Sometimes she disappears for a few days and when she comes back, her fresh perspective gives us a lot. She is insanely supportive of the actors.

She shares her workshop with students.

Yes, he talks about his experiences and gives them feedback on their work. It is not about advising or interfering in their search, but about opening up new spaces for asking questions. On telling them about themselves and important moments of their development. Yes, this is insanely generous of her.

Thank you so much for the conversation.

Thank you.

 

HYMNS

PERFORMANCE:
Dominik Bobryk
Weronika Bochat-Piotrowska
Patrycja Grzywińska
Filip Karaś
Natalia Kujawa
Małgorzata Majerska

CREATIVES:
The script for the performance by Natalia Fiedorczuk, in cooperation with Anna Smolar and acting ensemble.

Directing and drama: Anna Smolar
Libretto and dramaturgy: Natalia Fiedorczuk
Music: Maciej Cieślak
Set design, costumes, lighting: Mateusz Atman
Choreography: Patrycja Grzywińska
Artistic collaboration: Małgorzata Gorol
Assistant Directors:
Ewa Galica (2nd year of Directing)
Weronika Kuśmider (4th year of Directing)