Thumbelina for adults
premiere
3 December 2015
running time
75 min. (bez przerwy)
stage
scena mała

PHOTO GALLERY

CAST
PAULINA  MOŚ
PAULINA MOŚ
HELENA RADZIKOWSKA
HELENA RADZIKOWSKA
ADAM KRAWCZUK
ADAM KRAWCZUK
MARCIN PERCHUĆ
MARCIN PERCHUĆ
PAWEŁ RUTKOWSKI
PAWEŁ RUTKOWSKI
RAFAŁ RUTKOWSKI
RAFAŁ RUTKOWSKI
MATEUSZ TRZMIEL
MATEUSZ TRZMIEL
MACIEJ WIERZBICKI
MACIEJ WIERZBICKI

CREATIVES

adaptation and direction - Teatr Montownia i Teatr Papahema
set and costume designer - Paulina Czernek
music - Wiktor Stokowski

SYNOPSIS

Thumbelina is one of the most well-known fairy tale published by Andersen. During 180 years since its beginning, the tale witnessed countless adaptations: theatrical works, musicals, and films. Despite the fact that the performers of Andersen’s output often manifested a strong connection between the subject of his tales and the search for sexual identity, all of them, in line with the official intention of the author, targeted children. And the very first words of the Thumbelina stimulate the imagination of a modern, adult recipient: “Once upon a time there was a woman who wanted more than anything in the world to have a child – but she didn't know where to get one”. Modern medicine may come in handy in these situations. And planting a seed in a flowerpot is not one of the methods… By the same token, the adventures of a little, defenseless girl, the description of encounters with Toad, Butterfly, Bug, Mouse, Rat, and Swallow – their description and what’s left unsaid constitute an interesting point of departure for telling an alternative version of the story of Thumbelina, i.e. a play about the things that the Andersen’s fairy tale conceals so meticulously.

               

Eight actors, using various theatrical conventions, reveals in a funny, non-pretentious way everything that has been simplified and reduced to an infantile level for generations, despite its self-evident nature. What makes it possible to tell the story of Thumbelina for adults is a fresh outlook on Andersen’s tales, humor, and dolls that show the ambiguity of adventures of this small hero in a non-obscene way. The performance is a product of the encounter between two independent theatres, two generations, two theatrical languages – the dramatic and the puppetry ones.

 

 

The Montownia Theater is one of the first independent theatrical groups in Poland. The group was established in 1996 by three graduates of the then State Institute of Theatrical Arts (PWST) in Warsaw: Adam Krawczuk, Rafał Rutkowski, and Maciej Wierzbicki. Marcin Perchuć, also a PWST graduate, joined them some time later.

Critics unanimously state that the Montownia Theater is one of the major groups which emerged on the Polish theatre market. It consistently defines their own theatrical model, i.e. an independent theatre that is free from bureaucracy and remains open-minded about uncommon ideas. Moreover, the group is ready to support other artists.

 

The PAPAHEMA Theatre was established by this year’s graduates of the Puppetry Department of Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatrical Adacemy in Białystok. The team consists of: Paulina Moś, Helena Radzikowska (also a graduate of this Department), Paweł Rutkowski, and Mateusz Trzmiel. Up to now, they have produced three plays: Molière. Out of delusion, based on Kabała swjatosz by Mikhail Bulgakov, the Moral Insanity. A tragedy of stupid people based on Them Four by Gabriela Zapolska, and Macbett based on Eugène Ionesco’s drama. They would love to put their ideas into effect, combining a theatrical form with acting theatre, a good literature with modern sensitivity, and sense of humor with reflection on the condition of a human being.

Teatr Powszechny
im. Zygmunta Hübnera
ul. Jana Zamoyskiego 20
03-801 Warszawa
tickets 22 818 25 16
22 818 48 19