Thursday,
25 April
The Prince / Książę (2014)
HD, 71min
Say something about Jerzy Grotowski as a person? Has he not already been completely consumed by myth? Karol Radziszewski loves to rewrite the Polish history of art, questioning the canonical truth. The Prince is an attempt to take another look at Grotowski – through the prism of the actors from the Laboratorium troupe, Ryszard Cieślak in particular. His role in The Constant Prince was a breakthrough for him. Without it, Grotowski would not have become such a radical regarding the body. Radziszewski reconstructs Cieślak’s biography on the basis of surviving fragments of performances, recordings of rehearsals, letters, and interviews. He hires a group of young men and tasks with attempting the famous final scene from The Constant Prince. However, the myth of the creative genius of the Grotowski-Cieślak duo is really broken down once Teresa Nawrot is brought into the story. The actress, who was Grotowski’s long-time assistant and Cieślak’s lover, sheds some light on the intimate secrets of the Teatr Laboratorium. Neither film nor play, The Prince is theater recorded on camera based on archival materials and, at the same time, improvised and played out. The creators have dubbed this new type of performance a “video theater.”
Director: Karol Radziszewski
Screenplay: Dorota Sajewska
Cinematography: Michal Stajniak
Editing: Marek Sobolewski
Sound: Kamil Radziszewski
Cast: Klara Bielawka, Maria Maj, Agnieszka Podsiadlik, Paweł Tomaszewski, Teresa Nawrot
Producer: Karol Radziszewski
Karol Radziszewski (b. 1980) lives and works in Warsaw (Poland) where he received his MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2004. He works with film, photography, installations and creates interdisciplinary projects. His practice extends to magazines, artist books, fashion as well as curatorial concept projects. Publisher and editor-in-chief of DIK Fagazine. His work has been exhibited at institutions including The National Museum in Warsaw, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Zacheta – National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, Kunsthalle Wien, Wroclaw Contemporary Museum, Museum Of Contemporary Art Vojvodina in Novi Sad, Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz, New Museum in New York, Cobra Museum in Amsterdam, The National Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst in Leipzig, CCA Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Göteborg Biennale, PERFORMA 13, Prague Biennale, WRO Media Art Biennale, New York Photo Festival.