Community and Loneliness
Orphanhood is a fate experienced by the passenger of America’s orphan trains, young victims of armed conflict described by Guy Croussy in his novel Les bleuets, and all abandoned children of the world. It is also the subject of the KTO Theatre’s spectacle Chorus of Orphans.
But it’s no ordinary chorus: it doesn’t smile, it doesn’t speak, and it doesn’t even sing. The most important elements of the performance are movements, gestures and music: throughout the spectacle, the actors are accompanied by the sounds of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, setting the pace of the tale which lasts the same time as the composition (52 minutes and 6 seconds). Yet they are sufficient to reveal the harsh reality of living in an orphanage, where the sense of community is overcome by ceaseless loneliness.
(Justyna Skalska, "Karnet" magazine)
A show without text.
You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.
(The Book of Exodus, Chapter 22)
My ovary is cut
by pain sharp as knife
to my son of a bitch
I will soon give life
(A Bolivian song, anonymous)
Stage set and costume design: Joanna Jasko-Sroka
Production of stage set and structures: Robert Calikowski Ironwork Workshop
Stage movement: Eryk Makohon
Rhythmic training of the cast: Grzegorz Bauer
Music: Henryk Mikołaj Górecki "Symphony no 3"
Assistant to stage director: Monika Kozlowska
Script, selection of music and stage direction: Jerzy Zon
Performers: Karolina Bondaronek, Anna Kamykowska, Paulina Lasyk, Martyna Malcharek, Grazyna Srebrny-Rosa, Justyna Wojcik, Marta Zon, Sławek Bendykowski, Bartek Cieniawa, Paweł Monsiel, Michał Orzylowski
