Zdunik, Michał

“Detailed Theory of Life and Death is a polyphonic play written initially for the radio; it consists of the voices of the living and the dead. It tells the story of Jan and Antonina Żabiński, who were hiding Jewish people in the Warsaw ZOO, of which they were directors. Zdunik, instead of writing a traditional storyline, created a polyphonic structure, which resembles a score with many voice parts; a kind of improvised radio broadcast, in which we can hear a speaker and an author himself, struggling with his own work of art. Apart from that, Zdunik is far from preserving the myth of Polish heroism, brought up a little while ago by the Hollywood movie about the Żabińskis, starring Jessica Chastain as Antonina. For him, the Żabińskis’ story differs depending on the current storyteller’s background and experience. Zdunik treats theater and drama as a one of a kind medium.”

− Jacek Wakar, introductory essay to Polska jest mitem. Nowe dramaty anthology

• The play was published in Polska jest mitem. Nowe dramaty in April 2019 by Agencja Dramatu i Teatru ADiT.
   

A modern version of Antigone. It consists of two parts, each character has two incarnations: one living in the present and one mythological, which is an archetype, a character’s progenitor living in a poetic timeless realm.

The first part takes place in the realistic world, in the institute of classical philology within a huge university. Intertwined monologic and dialogic forms are sometimes disrupted by choir parts and by lines delivered by archetypical characters from the original ancient myth. The main character, Antigone, despite having a young boyfriend Haemon, has a romantic liaison with one of the Ph. D. students (Polynices). When the lovers are finally exposed, the director of the institute – Creon – decides to expel Polynices from the university, in spite of Antigone’s and her sister Ismene’s fierce protests. His decision will have tragic consequences, predicted by the plain janitor called Tiresias.

This complex play is based on a contemporary free verse and colloquial speech; its main focus lies in the matters of corporeality and how it is bounded by the cultural rules, behavioural patterns and language (in this case represented by the academic society). This factors constrain the body and impede realizing its full potential. Words overrule the matter, suppress the desire and the intuitive need of love – shared also by the ancient Antigone, who, all in all, “was born to share love, not hate”. Those two realities cannot be merged together, they will always be distant from each other, even antagonistic. To quote Michel Foucault: “The soul is the prison of the body”.

Dolls - Michał Zdunik's debut play - is a story of a woman who, led astray by illusions, decides to adopt all abandoned children. She begins her monologue, in which many different "voices" clash, representing different speech registers, press and literary genres. It is a portrait of a person lost in schizophrenia, without a coherent identity, with a completely broken up personality, but also a picture of a woman and womanhood in the modern world. There are excerpts from newspapers, fragments of colloquial conversations and TV reports, constantly repeated conventional phrases and so-called "common wisdom".

The main protagonist of the play is the language - deconstructed, carried to the limits of absurdity in its fossilized, media and dialoguing forms, arranged in a musical, strongly rhythmic structure. Dolls can be sung, chanted, shouted, you can let yourself be swept away by a deluge of words hiding a real tragedy underneath. It is so difficult to reach it today - it is constantly erased by everyday gibberish, clickbait phrases, and the noise of conversations. They hide the real drama of women, who must be artificial, socialized, enslaved. Like dolls.

What if camera operators from the TV studio, not the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, were the heralds of the Last Judgement? And what if the TV show host replaced archangels?Or if we got blinded by the spotlights, not by the mighty lightnings?

Until the Very End is an ironic, slightly profetic play, combining realistic and poetic features. There are two mothers without their offspring: a son, who is lost and a son, who comitted suicide. There is a doctor who discovers his future by accident, and a bored, jaded psychologist. And they all talk. They talk and talk, encouraged by the Host: “Speak, it will help you”. Their stories seem to connect with each other more and more clearly. Characters confess their secrets, though their public confessions are shallow and superficial. Exhibitionism, such popular on TV, deprives them of dignity.

There is also a choir, resembling an antique one, but with a very modern touch. It comments characters’ deeds in an ironical manner. This is the moment before the Last Judgement. People confess their sins not only to the highest majesty, but also to themselves. In a moment the Judge will come in – he will anounce the verdict of “Stairs behind the Glass” TV Show. Will the contestants go up or down? But, contrary to expectations, the Judge will never show up. He is like theBeckettian Godot – always silent and distant.
Zdunik points out the tackiness of suffering depicted in the media. In this particular case, the suffering does not make one seem dignified – since itis bland or sometimes ridiculous. Until the Very End mocks ubiquitous emotional exhibitionism. What will happen if the most important Viewer doesn’t show up? Well, there is a long line of participants, waiting to reveal their uttermost secrets…

An empty cinema hall. The young man came here to mull over his life – unfulfilled hopes, lost love, unaccomplished plans. His reminiscences resemble the narration of a film. The man summarizes its action, however, it takes place only in his imagination. There are numbers from 10 to 1 displayed on the screen – this countdown will set the rythm of the drama, comprised of 10 scenes.

At the very beginning his monologue is disrupted by the entrance of a beautiful girl – his long lost love. Is she real or is she only a figment of his imagination, like an image on the screen? The monologue turns into a dialogue, in which characters evoke their past. They speak in a „film” manner – as if they were directing a movie here and now – casting actors, positioning the camera, choosing music score and also quoting famous films. Perhaps we are not able to tell our stories otherwise than through visual and narrative cliches.
There are a lot of staging possibilities – especially in the use of new media, i.e. video projections, which may become an integral part of the performance and complement the narration (which is based on both visual and verbal components, after all).  
 

This is a play based on a true story about a man who hid his narcissism under the mask of a self-proclaimed messiah. A charismatic priest manipulated women and, having gained their trust, sexually abused them. The young monk preys on the loneliness of his female listeners and their sense of alienation. He notoriously leads them astray theologically, arouses a sense of guilt in them ('you did not pray earnestly enough'), makes them dependent on him by using various manipulation techniques. It is a response to the silence of God.

After some time, the Messiah achieves his goal – he rapes the women, telling them beforehand that this is the only way to cure them of the sin of impurity. The Messiah revels in his sense of superiority, although in conversations with Church dignitaries and the congregation, he presents himself as a martyr who takes on the burden of alleged sins. In the meantime, the shameful practices intensify:

He brought her salvation."

The manipulated followers nip their doubts in the bud – they have given too much to this man, so they rationalise their behaviour and suppress their emotions. Besides, they have to deal with the society’s judgement:

The situation of the victims is worsened by a curious (in the text accompanied by a large dose of ironic humour) investigation conducted by the Church’s representatives. Gradually, however, they regain their voice.

Zdunik juxtaposes fast-paced dialogues and monologues, in which biblical language and poeticism mix with the obscene:

The author creates a space for the victims, for women; nevertheless, in the finale the female characters ask rhetorically if people will actually be ready to listen to the apostles of the new truth.