info

translation by Maria Feldmanowa

adaptation Michał Borczuch, Szymon Wróblewski
set design and costumes Anna Maria Karczmarska
music Daniel Pigoński
lighting design Jacqueline Sobiszewski
dramaturg Szymon Wróblewski

cast: Roma Gąsiorowska/Julia Wyszyńska, Katarzyna Warnke, Lech Łotocki, Sebastian Pawlak, Piotr Polak, Tomasz Tyndyk

Dorian Gray, a young man, hypnotic in his beauty, poses for a new picture by artist Basil Hallward. This ordinary event opens a story which lets us to submerge in the world of young  admirers of art and beautiful life, followers of new hedonism.
Michał Borczuch uses the razor-sharp satire by Oscar Wilde’s in his quest for an answer to the question: is one allowed to dismiss moral categories and find eternal happiness on the way to ultimate beauty?
Dorian’s juvenile ideals change as he mingles with persons who, above all things in life, appreciate  beauty and exquisite menu. As Harry Wotton, one of the characters, says: "The aim of life is self-development.  To realize one's nature perfectly, -that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one's self. Of course they are charitable. They feed the hungry, and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked. Courage has gone out of our race.  Perhaps, we never really had it."

Still, the gradual following of beauty changes into the pursuit of the impossible, and the aging body into a trap for living beautifully thrill-seekers. Eternally young and perfect Dorian is a fulfillment of the ideals of post-modernity. A fulfilled utopia gives us a chance to view our dreams critically and to open to fears hidden beneath their surface.

approximate running time: 1 h 45 min. (no intermission)

premiere 03 March 2009, 19.00
pre-premiere performances: 24-25 February, 19.00