Empire | Performative installation

The forest witnesses listens, and helps. It offers hope, safety, and shelter. It is full of clues and sounds. And people – those hidden behind fallen trees and drenched after crossing swamps, and those carrying their water and dry clothes. It’s also full of birds and wild animals, which turn out to be less scary at night than border guards and armed military.

“Empire” is a performance installation inspired by the image of a walking forest from “Macbeth” and the experiences of people migrating and helping on the Polish-Belarusian border. We draw inspiration from Shakespeare’s text and images of humanitarian crisis on the borderland to reflect on strategies of survival while fleeing, how nature is able to favor humans in crisis, how to help those who flee, and how gestures of solidarity are criminalized by power. Finally – how much evil is contained in power that goes unpunished?

Alicja Borkowska – director-dramaturgical supervision, texts based on stories from the Polish-Belarusian border

Adrien Cognac – visuals and video

Ray Dickaty – music

Filip Ejsmont – light

Artur Pałyga – texts based on “Macbeth”

Varvara Stepanova – performance, dance

Oma Ukwuoma – performance, dance

Altro Volta – music (accordion), performance

Lukas Wójcicki – choreographic supervision, performance, dance

Maja Skrzypek – costume consultation

Agata Kubis – photographic cooperation

Performative photo shoot with:
Mamadou Goo Ba, Alicja Borkowska, Maciek Diduszko, Jarmiła Rybicka, Farid Torabpourshiraz, Oma A. Ukwuoma, Łukasz Wójcicki

SHOWS IN MAY AND JUNE 2024:

Tour Latvia-Lithuania:
May 16 – Daugavpils, Latgale, Latvia
May 18 – Riga, Latvia
May 21 – Visaginas, Lithuania
May 23 – Vilnius, Lithuania

Upcoming performances’ dates in Poland:
Wednesday and Thursday,  October 30-31, 7:30 PM – Small Stage – Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw.

ENG / UKR / Polish Sign Language
October 30 – PERFORMANCE WITH ENGLISH & UKRAINIAN SURTITLES + POLISH SIGN LANGUAGE TRANSLATION

ENG / UKR
October 31 – PERFORMANCE WITH ENGLISH & UKRAINIAN SURTITLES

After the performances, discussions on the current situation—the crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border—are scheduled.
Moderated by: Aleksandra Chrzanowska.

FREE ADMISSION. LIMITED SEATING.
Reserve your ticket, email us kontakt@strefawolnoslowa.pl or use this form:https://forms.gle/mdvbbR8S9exAXEeW8

“Imperium” is a type of spectacle that documents not only the situation occurring contemporaneously and very close by, but also in a space that seems unrelated to the peaceful, everyday lives of the citizens of the state, participants in the system, of which the described situation becomes a component. It’s a component that is very uncomfortable, reluctantly accepted into consciousness, pushed to its margins, difficult to understand, to resolve without stepping out of the so-called comfort zone. (…) The strength of this narrative lies in posing questions through metaphors and arousing uncertainty in the viewer about which side of this metaphor we are on. (…) The spectacle is a response to the situation of injustice and human rights violations on the migration route passing through the Polish-Belarusian border, initiated over two years before the premiere of the play. (…) “Imperium” is about choosing a perspective. About what values we choose to see, what values ​​we choose to defend, what fear accompanies it, and what hope. It’s also about the power of the latter, although the creators of the spectacle do not attempt to resolve what the outcome of the struggles on these ambiguous borders will be. (…) The work of many people comes together in “Imperium” to form a whole, which, in addition to the described social value, is a well-executed theatrical work, leaving the viewer in a state of searching for answers to the question of their point of view (Aleksandra Karmelita, “Dziennik Teatralny”)

The premiere of the gripping, poignant spectacle was presented [at the Shakespeare Festival – theater note] by Strefa Wolnosłowa, a non-governmental organization co-created by refugees and migrants. “Imperium” is inspired by “Macbeth” and the figure of Birnam Wood, which in the finale is supposed to move against the usurper. However, the artists also draw on the stories of victims of pushbacks at the Polish-Belarusian border, documented by Alicja Borkowska, as well as in the photographs of Agata Kubis. The story of a mad tyrant persecuted by the ghosts of his victims here gains both topicality and ambiguity – there are no positive heroes on either side of the border, the rulers of Poland from PiS are implicated, but Lukashenko’s guilt is indisputable, although no name of a politician or dictator is mentioned. The forest here becomes a living character, not just a political symbol or a camouflage for troops (as in the original “Macbeth”) (Witold Mrozek, “Gazeta Wyborcza”)

The forest is full of people – those hidden behind fallen trees and soaked after crossing the swamps, as well as those bringing them water and dry clothes. It is also full of birds and wild animals, which turn out to be less frightening at night than the border guards and armed forces. On stage, there are three actors and one musician playing the accordion. They are of various nationalities and origins, which in this case matters. They are representatives of those who suffer in the forest. Fear, illness, humiliation. All because of the uniformed ones who should provide help but are only a terror to those in need. “I was just doing what I was told” – it is said from the stage. We’ve heard it somewhere before. Was it not in Nuremberg? (…) This minimalist spectacle using modern multimedia raises questions about humanity, about boundaries that must not be crossed. Which, however, we cross because we have to. Do we want to? For the order of Macbeth. For Macbeth’s favor (Małgorzata Klimczak, “Dziennik Teatralny”)

From an interesting concept, where Birnam Wood becomes a forest on the Polish border, where people suffer and die, a poetic, moving, powerful, and very important spectacle was created. The stories of refugees are dressed in a coherent performative form: words merge with movement, visualizations, and minor music, played live. The audience becomes part of this experience, encouraged to read news about missing persons, picked out by a spotlight that moves through the audience as if searching the forest (Przemysław Gulda, “Gazeta Wyborcza”, “Gulda Poleca”)