In the autumn of 2006 it was found out that Wojtek Ziemilski's grandfather, Wojciech Dzieduszycki, a notable citizen of the city of Wroclaw, was for many years a collaborator of the communist secret police. The family has not recovered from the shock, and tries to arrive at the true story. Wojtek's answer to this situation was a performance in the form of a lecture, combining personal narration, historical facts, contemporary choreography, and small and great narratives. It is an attempt to confront his artistic choices with the history on which he had no influence. This lecture-performance is a combination of various forms of public address and artistic expression. One can find in it elements of personal confession, academic lecture, video art, and contemporary choreography. Theater intermingles with reality, private narration with historical commentary - all this in order to cope with the painful problem of memory and the manipulations it undergoes.
"When I decided to write Small Narration I asked myself "What have I got that's powerful for me?" And I felt I had two things, one - that I'm a grandson, and the other - the universe of contemporary performing and visual art I identify with. After all, what is special about this sort of approach is a direct link with reality - with document, autobiography, with what surrounds us.
Small Narration is for me, among other things, a piece about memory. Memory is a space where the pain of absence is felt most acutely. Especially when we think about people, we remember a body, contact, its physicality, and at the same time our whole memory is connected to their absence. It's based on the body not being here anymore". Wojtek Ziemilski
Presented among others in:
Warsaw, Poland (Studio Theatre)
Wrocław, Poland (Grotowski Institute)
New York, USA (New York Theatre Workshop)
Troy, USA (EMPAC)
Kraków, Poland (Kontrapunkt)
Lublin, Poland (Konfrontacje)
Munich, Germany (Spielart)
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Paris, France
Moscow, Russia (Golden Mask)
Edinburgh, Scotland (Polish showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe)
Madrid, Spain
Vilnius, Lithuania
Athens, Greece (Onassis Cultural Centre)
Nitra, Slovakia (Nitra Festival)
Cluj, Romania (Temps d’Images)
Dresden, Germany (Hellerau)
Katowice, Poland (Teatr Śląski)
Warsaw, Poland (Studio Theatre)
Wrocław, Poland (Grotowski Institute)
New York, USA (New York Theatre Workshop)
Troy, USA (EMPAC)
Kraków, Poland (Kontrapunkt)
Lublin, Poland (Konfrontacje)
Munich, Germany (Spielart)
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Paris, France
Moscow, Russia (Golden Mask)
Edinburgh, Scotland (Polish showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe)
Madrid, Spain
Vilnius, Lithuania
Athens, Greece (Onassis Cultural Centre)
Nitra, Slovakia (Nitra Festival)
Cluj, Romania (Temps d’Images)
Dresden, Germany (Hellerau)
Katowice, Poland (Teatr Śląski)
“The best show I’ve ever seen in Edinburgh.” Chris Thorpe for Guardian
“A quietly devastating account of the forces that have compelled a generation to abandon grand narratives. ****”
Joyce Macmillian, Scotsman
“Simple, stark, fiercely intelligent and moving.”
Andrew Haydon, Postcards from The Gods