History

I was faced with a difficult choice whether to present Gombrowicz once again. In 2004 I directed "Operetta", then "Trans-Atlantyk", for which we received three main prizes at the 9th Gombrowicz Festival in Radom, Poland. However, I felt that I had to close the trilogy. I consciously take the risk because I know that the plays will be compared, but although the author is the same, the texts are completely different. The background of "History" is definitely stronger, the atmosphere more dense, with black humor.
"History" is a sketch of a theater play that Gombrowicz never finished. After reading this text, I realized that it was the starting point for creating his fictional biography.
(...) I do not think about how the viewer will react to the picture that I am making. Gombrowicz is a non-standard author, a cursed writer, opponent of any rules. I know all his works and almost everything that has been written about him. Like Witold, I also feel different. I cannot find myself in the "forms" of contemporary Argentinian theater fashion. It seems that we are increasingly forgetting who we are.
Adrián Blanco

From press reviews:

(...) Gombrowicz is an author who always talks about himself, even when he talks about others. At every step, it charms with its rebellious contradiction. (...) Adrian Blanco knows and feels the difficult work of the Polish writer very well. His "History" is a rough biography in a lyrical form, it is the boldest, most disturbing and richest spectacle of this season.
Luis Maza, "Veintitres" 02/20/2014

Adrian Blanco puts on a kind of fictional autobiography of the writer, the background of which is a war-torn country.
In the mid-1950s, Witold Gombrowicz, living in Argentina, wrote "Historia". The work, which he repeatedly abandoned, saved after his death, tells the story of the writer's life. It is not only the writer's personal history, but also the shared history of the country, or more specifically - a world shaken by war.
On the basis of Gombrowicz's sketch, which so far has not been translated into Spanish, Adrian Blanco and Jose Paez have done a very careful dramatic work and met the countless requirements of the text.
(...) Blanco offers the viewer a look from two perspectives: through the eyes of young Witold and (from time to time) of old Gombrowicz, who sits and observes his own life, commenting on it sporadically.
There are several strong scenes in "Historia", metaphorical, brilliantly summarized. Witold's parents, who test his maturity, a few years later transform into Stalin and Hitler. Young Gombrowicz is barefoot and wants to become one, but his aristocratic family insists that he has put on shoes. (...) The wild, primeval, form-defying and dirty come to life here.
Maria Daniela Yaccar, "Página 12", 19.08.2013

(...) Satirical humor and stage expression bring the story closer to a real farce. The play takes on a dynamic, yet light and completely unobtrusive rhythm, even when topics as bitter as Stalin's meeting with Hitler are discussed, who are discussing how to divide Poland.
The director Adrian Blanco, who uses such measures, serves the viewer in situations that trigger loud laughter, as well as those that are breathtaking, in order to change direction again by 180 degrees in a second. An art full of surprises that allows you to freely wander through the labyrinths of the writer's mind, peering into the recesses of his rich, colorful and difficult history, brazenly showing the fate of his family. This personal image reveals Gombrowicz's cosmos and his works. Rebellious nudity, stands up to the adult world full of provocative shoes, tights and socks; it allows us to look into the writer's soul.
(...) Art is a discovery for those who know little about Gombrowicz. Just like for those who know him well.
Pablo Goriero, "La Nación", September 4, 2013

photo by Sol Janik