Before the premiere, I spoke to Monika Strzępka, the show's director:

Did you choose 'Platonov' for the graduation performance of the students of the AT acting department because of the wealth of interesting roles and thus the great potential for interesting acting creations?

The graduation year is a chance for young actors to have an impact with a well-written text. I have been drawn to Chekhov for some time. The supervisor of the year is Andrzej Domalik and, as you know, he is a Chekhov devotee. He also encouraged me to take up Chekhov. I was still considering Arthur Miler. I also thought about William Shakespeare, but the students of that year were already doing a degree in Shakespeare. I was still looking for contemporary texts. I read a lot. It's hard for me to make these decisions. I walk around with it like a chicken with an egg. Even when I was sure, I had to contradict myself. That is, two more weeks of walking around and still wondering if this is definitely the right decision.

How was the final cast selection of the play?

We first met in January when I already knew it was going to be 'Platonov'. I looked at the graduating year students for a week. I chose 11 people, but there are more characters. Some actors play two or three characters each. I didn't know yet who would be who. I handed out the texts and left for three weeks. From 9 February we started working intensively.

In your theatre, working on the text is very important.

We put a very strong emphasis on text analysis. I wanted them to get into the habit of doing this. You can discover very little if you don't do a decent analysis of the text. In my work, I've developed the habit of not being able to follow the author. Chekhov always said" it's all written down there" and it is indeed all written down there. It's such an adventure to take the text, dig into it and find the essential things, and you can have a lot of fun doing it. With the production of Platonov, I completely trusted Chekhov's text. This is not the first time that I have worked on a play without a dramaturg (Pavel Demirski). I have previously prepared diplomas in this way with students of the Kraków branch of the PWST in Wrocław: "Wesele" by Wyspianski (1915) or "Love & Information" by Caryl Churchill (2013). In the latter case, Paweł Demirski was the translator of the text but not the playwright.

So Chekhov's text was left without any interference? Does this mean that the play will be long, as usual with Chekhov?

Here we left everything as it is in Chekhov's, no word from us. That was the assumption, but I also saw no other need. I am not one of those people who pride themselves on not making theatre that suits the author, on not destroying the text. In my case, if there is a need, then I add to it. Here there was no such need, such was the decision that it would be nice to follow the text, Chekhov.

The young actors do a good job with the text although it is far too long. If all the material were used, I think the performance would last about five hours. I still have the impression that we need to cut, but I have no conscience anymore, because now, at the final stage of preparation, the actors hold every line in their teeth and don't allow themselves to tear it out. They don't yet have this knowledge that a lot doesn't mean well. But this is an acting affliction not only of the students of this department, but of actors in general.

How young actors find themselves in their characters.

Our actors are already getting into the roles better and better. We're trying to get some of that juice into each role so they all have something to play. In the end, that's what it's all about, so they can show off. That's what the diploma is for. It's great when the performance is successful. We're still working hard and it's hard to judge whether we'll get everything right. It's obvious that it's better to watch actors in a good performance. For me, the number one function of the diploma is to be able to show the best of the students. I have to admit that the ones I have had to work with are very creative. At the beginning they were a bit rushed and now I can see these geysers bubbling out of them. At the beginning I had the impression that they didn't have the courage, or that they didn't have the habit and this is not true. We'll be judging the results of our work soon because the premiere is on 5 April 2019 and we look forward to seeing the performances.

Thank you for talking to me.

 

 

PLATONOV

The characters in Chekhov's drama feel the past on their shoulders. It is a burden they struggle with in their daily lives and against which they want to rebel. They cannot be stuck in the sense of complacency that characterised their parents' generation. They want to create a world that is better, more just, but because they do not have the tools to do so, capitulation is only a matter of time. They are like children who have been bequeathed the mediocre and unhelpful life's work of their fathers, and they have to face it...

Creators:
Author - Anton Chekhov
Translation - Agnieszka Lubomira Piotrowska
Director - Monika Strzępka
Scenography and costumes - Arek Ślesiński
Projections - Kornelia Dzikowska
Music - Mateusz Dębski
Movement and body work consultation - Agnieszka Kryst
Assistant director - Agata Koszulińska

Cast:
Platonov – Jakub Kordas
Anna – Zuzanna Saporznikow
Nikolay – Karol Biskup
Sonya – Vanessa Aleksander
Sasha – Małgorzata Kozłowska
Mari – Aleksandra Boroń
Wiengierowicz/ Wiengierowicz-son - Kamila Brodacka
Sergei – Szymon Owczarek
Osip – Konrad Szymański
Glagolev / Shcherbuk – Jakub Gąsowski
Kirill/Trylecki/Pietrin - Mateusz Burdach