You are laughing at yourself
Grzegorz Konat, PRZEGLĄD
Contrary to the expectations of conservative and liberal commentators, the perfomance NO MATTER HOW HARD WE TRIED written by Dorota Masłowska and directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna is a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the New Deal on the Vistula, with a satire on the absurds of the capitalist post-Polish-People’s-Republic reality. This latest drama from the young authoress constitutes a thorough settlement with the language: language which is forced on society and which misrepresents reality, especially the language of the media and the omnipresent advertising, flooding society with a deeply intolerant discourse on misunderstood freedom, the exemplification of which is a fat woman calling herself "a fat pig" and repeating that she will not leave her house as others deserve more noble reasons to vomit than the sight of her. If Masłowska read an excellent book by Alain Bihr "Neoliberal Newspeak", she would be surprised to see her dialogues match perfectly the analyses of the French sociologist.
On the other hand, the performance exposes the dramatic inequality which has affected Poles for the last 20 years. In Jarzyna’s show we can see two worlds. One is made up of representatives of the pauperised majority, the other of a handful of unreal darlings of Fortune who in their plastic packaging yearn for contact with real life. The confrontation of the two worlds is a bitter, but humorous settlement with the new Polish reality.
What is most controversial about the very text of play is its allegedly patriotic message. In Jarzyna’s performance this element turns out to be so naive that it is difficult to say if "the affirmation of being Polish" is a deliberate message for the spectator or a perfectly hidden sarcasm and exposure of the wickedness of using national myths to pull the wool over our eyes in order to divert our attention from severe present-day problems. When Small Metal Girl shouts: "We are not Poles, we are ordinary people!", we might as well see it as in opposition to the at times inhumane policy of neoliberal Polish authorities. And when she repeats time and again the platitude about being European – doesn’t it bring to mind the 2 million people who became "Europeans" through emigration for economic reasons? One may, perhaps, risk a statement that Masłowska’s and Jarzyna’s intentions play a secondary role here. The effect is what counts, and the effect is very ambiguous.
The performance is consistent, action-packed and well-delivered. Above all, it surprises us by its peculiar perversity, showing us Polish intellectual and financial elites through the example of celebrities. Such a presentation is a mockery of those who have been the celebrities’ most faithful audience. It is not surprising that among the entertainment-hungry audience laughter prevailed over bitter reflection. And despite the fact that one could sense somewhere above the stage Marx’s spiritus movens, right above the audience’s heads Gogol’s spirit was present, with his ever valid question: "What are you laughing at?".