Gruba is Patrycja Kowańska, a respected scriptwriter, director, and above all, a dramatist. Głupia is Dominika Knapik, a top choreographer and at times, a highly fascinating director. This time, they have taken the stage themselves to tell how their involvement in the arts influences their corporeality dwuznaczne po polsku, as they opted for freelancing, and what mark the contemporary theatre dynamics leaves on them. In their uninhibited journey, where you do what is considered improper and say what should not be said, they draw from the Shakespearean imagination, toying with the characters of Shakespeare’s fools. Kowańska transforms into the bawdy Falstaff, while Knapik embodies fools competent in both antics and speech. Their performance becomes a no-holds-barred ride where everything is allowed, and everything can be challenged and/or ridiculed. Kowańska and Knapik alter theatrical conventions, constructing before our eyes surprising choreography, emphasising and questioning the significance of gender in the theatre. Their joint spectacle proved to be the highlight of this year’s International Shakespeare Festival in Gdańsk. It undisputedly won the SzekspirOFF Competition, and, for many, was the best performance of the festival irrespective of categories. As part of Boska Komedia / Divine Comedy’s programme “Very Funny”, it enters dialogue with Sen nocy letniej / Midsummer Night’s Dream, offering a radically different interpretation of Shakespeare’s world in the context of the reality surrounding us.

Fot. Magdalena Kasjaniuk