In 1970, during the Théâtre et rituel Festival in Shiraz in Iran, reaffirming his decision to stop directing theatre productions, Jerzy Grotowski paid tribute to the genius of Jean Genet, his progressive vision, and writing, which he believed to be “the word of humankind”. Materiały do Pokojówek / The Maids – Materials produced by an international creative collective, drawing from Genet’s original text combined with excerpts from Jean-Pierre Siméon’s Stabat Mater Furiosa, Dimitris Dimitriadis’s Dying as a Country, and the French Constitution, uses that gesture–moment as a springboard.

Through endless games and in - timate micro-performances, seven women from different parts of the world locked in a refugee shelter attempt to reveal their hidden identities and speak out to the audience in a language they’re only now inventing: a language they will actually never master. This encounter, oscillating between an audition for a performance and a recruitment interview at a labour office, moves identity into the second plane. What becomes paramount is dignity. Dignity here and now, and not after death.

The cast features artists from extremely different backgrounds, including British actress Marie Walker, Russian choreographer and dancer Katya Egorova, actor and educator Monika Wachowicz, and performer Aleksandra Kugacz-Semerci.

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Photos by Tobiasz Papuczys