Rehearsals are being held in the recently opened New Space of the Theater of Nations, which promises to become a platform where the boundaries between genres, styles and forms disappear. This atmosphere suits the Polish director, whose work is greatly admired by modern art connoisseurs.
Roman Dolzhansky, the current deputy artistic director of the Theater of Nations, invited Jarzyna's play "Psychosis" to the festival in Moscow ten years ago.
"I could not decide whether to do it or not. Only now, when political tensions in Polish-Russian relations sharply increased, and Europe has imposed an embargo on Russia, I felt it was the right time to implement such a plan. After all, culture is a human space that is truly free from politics," the director told Sputnik Poland.
It is not often that a Polish playwright puts a show on the Russian stage. The idea to introduce the Polish classics to Moscow came to Jarzyna because of the currently tense Russian-Polish relations.
"My favorite Polish drama is "Iwona" by Gombrowicz. I think the degree of absurdity, wit and literary level of this play will be appreciated by the highly sophisticated theater audience in Moscow," he explained.
According to him, it wasn't hard to find a common language with Russian actors:
"I'm very impressed with them. Until now, I had the closest relationship with Israeli actors. But Polish and Russian cultural mentalities are so close that I feel emotionally connected to the actors with whom I work. They are very motivated and get very involved in the play. While working with them, I have a feeling that we are doing something very important and essential, something that will last through the years," Grzegorz Jarzyna noted.
The dramatist also shared his impressions from the city, where he has been spending a lot of his time recently.
"It is such a sweet and positive thing that the city center has become cleaner and nicer. Everything is done with such taste, so I support these changes. I have always been pleased and even delighted by a great number of theaters, concert halls and ballet scenes in this city. I especially enjoy weekend evenings, when the crowds of people, who absorbed the culture, pour into the streets. This is similar to what happens on Broadway, but this audience is not set up for entertainment and consumption."
However, his feelings towards the city are mixed.
"On the other hand, there is strong control by security services and a large number of police officers and security guards on the streets — it scares me. A constant feeling of the presence of power and control depresses me."
Staging the play became possible through the cooperation of the Theater of Nations with prominent foreign directors, as well as due to co-producing it with the TR Warszawa theater, the support of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (Instytut Adama Mickiewicza), the Polish Cultural Centre in Moscow and the sponsorship of the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation.
Grzegorz Jarzyna also told Sputnik that he received offers of cooperation from two other Moscow theaters, but he is not in rush to accept them.
"I don't think about it now. For me, it is important to wait till the premiere and see what kind of response my vision will get from the viewers, and whether my artistic declaration will have any effect on the life here," the director concluded.
