Between Lena's legs, or "Death of the Blessed Virgin Mary" by Michelangelo Caravaggio
Between Lena's legs, or "Death of the Blessed Virgin Mary" by Michelangelo Caravaggio
Performance
Sat, 30 Nov 2024, 17:00
Staff
Playwright
Agata Duda GraczTheatre director
Agata Duda GraczScenic artist
Agata Duda GraczCostume designer
Agata Duda GraczLight artist
Katarzyna ŁuszczykComposer
Łukasz Wójcik ZawieruchaAssistant to the director
Marius PažereckasInterpreter
Nikodem SzczygłowskiChoreographer
Tomasz WesolowskiActors
Event description
The play is based on the biography and work of the Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. The relationship between sin and holiness is considered, which is by no means as unambiguous as it might seem. Caravaggio's paintings on religious themes are recognized as genius, they inspire faith - but Caravaggio himself, famous among his peers not only for his paintings, but also for his shocking cruelty, spent his life in the winds, not avoiding a single possible sin. Shadows interested him more than light, both in painting and in life. A great sinner - and at the same time a saint, for whom painting was the true and only existence, the refuge of the soul.IS SUCH UNTRADITIONAL ASCETICITY POSSIBLE? OUTRIGHT BRUTALITY AND DIVINE BEAUTY - HOW DO THEY FIT EACH OTHER, WHAT ARE THE SECRET CONNECTIONS CONNECTING THE GREATEST EVIL AND THE HIGHEST GOOD?The director of the play, Agata Duda-Gracz, says: "I wanted to create a play about Caravaggio for a long time. I was inspired by the particular contrast between his life and his art. He was a double murderer, a regular visitor to brothels, he was constantly involved in all kinds of scams, fights, he was prone to extremes, a fanatic. He painted cruel, but at the same time pictures full of love for man. His realism, despite the external repulsiveness, is gentle. In his paintings, he did not justify anything. He painted the world as it is. But he was enriched by incredible love, faith, and tenderness. In his paintings, Caravaggio proved to be a humanist in the true sense of the word. He was able to gently show every human wound, solemnly portray simplicity, naivety.The performance will not be a story about the artist's life. We will focus on the most important moment in Caravaggio's life - when he meets his love, death, lust, crime, ambition, greed, folly and holiness. All this happens in one night. As a result, the entire action of the play takes place in one mind, from one point of view. The scenes that the viewer will see will be very realistic, but will look like visions. These will be direct quotes from Caravaggio paintings.Despite the fact that this whole story took place 400 years ago, I feel an uncanny resemblance to the apocalypse of our time. It was a time when deadly diseases, famine, wars, reformation raged in Europe, and the church began to tremble. All this has unlocked extreme behavior in people."The scenography and costumes of the play, as usual, were created by the director A. Duda-Gracz herself. As the Polish theater critic Tadeusz Nyczek wrote, sometimes it seems that she may not even be directing, but has simply put on stage pictures - unlike most contemporary directors - about where we are, what we are, where we came from and what awaits us.