Waclaw Janicki - actor in the Tadeusz Kantor Theatre
In all their artistic activity, brothers Wacław and Lesław Janicki never did anything separately. They were always together, both as actors in Tadeusz Kantor's Cricot 2 Theatre and in films, especially as the Kiemlicze brothers in Jerzy Hoffman's “Potop”, as well as in their numerous performance works.
They worked with Kantor's theatre for more than twenty years. They travelled with Cricot 2 all over the world. They were all over Europe, in Iran, in the USA (in New York and Los Angeles) and in South America. They were also known as the artists who formed the so-called Second Group, together with their friend, Jacek Stokłosa. Within this group they created their autonomous shows, happenings and performances. As the Second Group, they were very close collaborators with Warsaw's Foksal Gallery, where they showed their work, and travelled with Foksal Gallery to London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast, among other places, as part of Foksal Gallery's foreign shows. And when asked why they called themselves the Second Group they replied, “because there was no first one.” That's how they were. Full of perverse humor, in almost all their activities.
In 1968-1974, together with his brother Lesław Janicki and Jacek Stokłosa, he co-founded the Second Group, operating at the Krzysztofory Gallery in Cracow and the Foksal Gallery in Warsaw. Together, the artists created happenings, events, film screenings and conceptual activities. The Second Group's work has been summarized in exhibitions such as Druga Grupa. Check! [Cricoteka (2015)] or What We Had to Do, We Did. The Second Group - a monographic approach [Cricoteka, Union of Polish Artists Photographers Krakow District (2017)].
On the first anniversary of Tadeusz Kantor's death, Waclaw Janicki and his brother staged Ohio Impromptu (1991) based on Samuel Beckett's text at the Krzysztofory Gallery. Then, in Rome, they produced Beckettiana (1992), which lived to see shows on tour in Poland and Italy. The artist has collaborated with, among others: Christian Boltanski (Le Voyage d'Hiver - Opéra Comique de Paris) in France or Wladyslaw Znorko (Ullysse al'evers, Alpenstock - Theatre Cosmos Kolej) and Loredana Putignani (Terramare) in Italy.
Waclaw Janicki also appeared several times in film productions, including in Potop, directed by Jerzy Hoffman (1974). In 2000, together with his brother, he published a volume of memoirs entitled Diary of a Trip with Cantor 1979-1990.
From 1991 to 2019, on each successive anniversary of Tadeusz Kantor's death, he took part in the Living Monuments show, appearing - alongside Jan Książek and Leslaw Janicki - as one of the Chassidim with a board of last resort. For his activities and artistic achievements, in 2021 Wacław Janicki was awarded the Gloria Artis Gold Medal for Meritorious Service to Culture.
The play features well-known actors, such as Anna Dymna, Roman Gancarczyk and Krzysztof Zawadzki, who take on a variety of roles. Roman Gancarczyk emphasizes that the characters are "permanent, living", and the stories of the Rougon-Macquart family are recalled in retrospect. Anna Dymna shares her reflections on her roles, which pose questions about the meaning of life and the human condition.
The actors emphasize the relevance of the topics raised by Zola. Krzysztof Zawadzki draws attention to the return to themes related to poverty and exploitation, which are reflected in today's times. The play aims not only to recall history, but also to make the audience reflect on the present and their own experiences.
The script for the play "Sex, money and hunger, family chronicle according to Emil Zola" was written by Luk Perceval, and the translation into Polish was prepared by Sława Lisiecka. The premiere will take place on January 18 on the Main Stage of the National Old Theatre Helena in Kraków. This is another production of the Belgian director in the Kraków theatre, after earlier successes such as "3 Sisters" and " Long Day's Journey into Night ".