The Marriage

For the first time in her career, Anna Augustynowicz deals with the still untamed, metaphorical piece by Witold Gombrowicz. Between the bride dressed in black and the procession of wedding guests in mourning costumes, the director precisely plays out a human-human mass based on Gombrowicz's fleshy, ambiguous language.

What do we see on stage? A nightmare? A grotesque vision of history? Fighting for power over your own mind and memories? An illusion where each story eventually collapses and gets stuck? 

"The Marriage" by Anna Augustynowicz in co-production of the Współczesny Theater in Szczecin and the Kochanowski Theater in Opole is in line with Gombrowicz's ideas.
(...) Reciting at times, exaggerated speaking at times, but devoid of emotions, give the performance the character of a workshop. Through this particular type of communication, further formal, but not emotional, accumulations arise between the characters. The way of presenting the text, however, does not resemble amateur school implementations (and there is such a risk). The professionalism of the acting team makes playing with the form a parody, it is attractive, and the text is legible. Transparency is, in fact, one of the ideas behind Augustynowicz's work. The ascetic and almost monochromatic scenery gives the impression of a spatial sketch. This impression is complemented by a pencil that Henryk (in the role of phenomenal Grzegorz Falkowski) often takes from the back pocket of his trousers. He waves it at moments of self-reflection, trying to give the action (like a dream, a vision) a new course - like a demiurge. The specific space of Modelatornia, in its own way, helped to win the ironic, meta-thematic tones of the realization.
(...) The characters are seen through the prism of Henryk's narrative. Through his statements, you can perceive the Father and Mother (the fantastic Grzegorz Młudzik and Joanna Matuszak) as funny, and the Pijak (characteristic Arkadiusz Buszko) as a threat. Henryk turns to the audience, even when he explains to himself that he is alone and the rest of the characters are merely a vision. And through the use of such a formula, a certain agreement can arise between the creators and the audience. By the time. The grotesque of the stage situations described by Gombrowicz on a grand scale at some point becomes a burden for both Henryk and the viewer. In Augustynowicz's work, it is clearly visible that form gains power over man, even if he tries to be constantly aware of it.
(...) It is the context of the power vested in man by man, be it in the name of sanctity (which is rejected in the text and in the performance) or social interest (symbolized by the attempt to restore Mania's lost purity through the sacrament of the wedding) that resonates most strongly. This makes the show up-to-date. Becoming intoxicated in form is intoxication with the power that we have over another person.
Martyna Friedla, "Gazeta Wyborcza" - Opole, September 12, 2016

(...) Anna Augustynowicz's production is inscribed both in the frame of the dream and the frame of the theater. The stage space is literally a stage surrounded by spotlights on tripods. The heroes are puppets on the stage of life. Everyone pretends something and someone towards another person. He pretends to be in search of his own identity. He makes poses, makes faces, gives mouths to others, performs ceremonies. Game. The world is one big clown, and man - "cloudy and immature" cannot find his authentic face.
(...) It is hard to resist the impression that the grotesque and degraded world we see strongly refers to the present day, where everything is distorted, twisted, ruined, and distorted. Anna Augustynowicz's Theater is, as always, the clarity and accuracy of thought as well as the purity of form (set design by Marek Braun, costumes by Wanda Kowalska, music by Jacek Wierzchowski). And consummate acting. The combined artistic forces (the show is a co-production) of the Kochanowski theaters in Opole and the Współczesny theaters in Szczecin have created a completely new quality on our stage.
Iwona Kłopocka, "Nowa Trybuna Opolska", September 12, 2016