Gosia Wdowik directs in Belgium
In the the performance She was a friend of someone else Gosia Wdowik explores the link between burnout and activism: the fear that rights are not acquired forever, and that the moment one lowers the attention, they risk disappearing. The premiere at 20th may during Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Ghent.
This production was made in a country where women have limited access to reproductive health, and where abortion is now illegal. Despite immense protests, women were simply denied their rights. The project started with the idea that women could come together and, without shame or fear, publicly manifest that they have had an abortion, and that this collective act would change the law.
It could be an activist success story.
But She was a friend of someone else is a story with too many beginnings, too few endings – and an exhausted narrator.In this creation, Gosia Wdowik explores the link between burnout and activism: the fear that rights are not acquired forever, and that the moment one lowers the attention, they risk disappearing. Through a personal narrative, she describes the commitment to women's rights in Poland. Through subtle choreography, we are drawn into the life of a woman who decides one day, instead of protesting, to stay in bed, only to eventually come out again.
concept, text and direction Gosia Wdowik
collaboration in dramaturgy Maria Rössler
visuals and creative technology Jimmy Grimma
set design Dominika Olszowy, Tomasz Mróz
light design Aleksandr Prowaliński
performed by Jaśmina Polak, Oneka von Schrader, Gosia Wdowik
Work with/by
Agnieszka, Dominika, Jaśmina, Ania, Urszula, Marta K., Justyna, Natalia, Julia, Martyna, Ola, Małga, Krystyna, Marta, Zosia, Edka, Doris, Yulia, Agata, Kinga, Beata, Iza, Zuza, Ewa, Magda.
Special thanks to
Jan Tomza-Osiecki, Marta Jalowska, Dorota Glac, Kamila Worobiej, Martyna Wawrzyniak, Marta Nawrot, Keerthi Basavarajaiah, Justin Schembri
Production: NOWY TEATR Warsaw, CAMPO Gent
Coproduction: KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS, Teatro Municipal do Porto, SPRING Festival Utrecht, Frascati Producties, HELLERAU - Europäisches Zentrum der Künste, Spielart Festival Munich, Dublin Theatre Festival, Beursschouwburg, Points communs - Nouvelle Scène nationale de Cergy-Pontoise / Val d'Oise