Works of Elfriede Jelinek may be considered dated, yet not-that-recent Nobel the winner returns to the stage. Moreover, as a diploma performance by students of Academy of Theatre Arts (AST) in Kraków demonstrating that her work still inspires the young. The play is a joint creation, directed by a highly esteemed educator, the recent recipient of numerous awards for his adaptation of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Ten Commandments. Amateurs has also enjoyed major success, winning the main award for the performing company at Poland’s foremost festival of theatre schools in Ł ódź.
Amateurs, as seen by recent AST graduates, is a coming-of-age narrative about young people on the brink of adulthood, elicited from Jelinek’s formative tale of young people entering mature life, and their hopes and anxieties bound to this defining moment. Yet, this is no banal theatre dwelling in innocence lost but a fierce story about inequality and the absurdity of existence. When interpreted by actors so young, it becomes all the more poignant.
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Due to the location of the entrance to the audience of the performance Amateurs on level -1, we kindly ask people with special mobility needs to contact the AST Theatre ticket office in advance. Unfortunately, due to the set design, we cannot accommodate viewers in wheelchairs at the performance.
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Photos by Klaudyna Schubert
