The stage adaptation of *Requiem for a Dream*, produced by the Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theatre in Kraków in co-production with Teatr STUDIO, turns out to be much more than just a theatrical tale about substance abuse. Jakub Skrzywanek transforms Hubert Selby Jr.’s cult story into a stifling and mesmerising spectacle about a world addicted to stimuli, emotions and digital overload. However, it is the production’s extravagant visual layer that makes the strongest impact, where monumental set design, intense lighting and baroque costumes create a decadent dream balancing somewhere between beauty, hedonism and an unease that is hard to ignore.
At the end of April, the Kraków premiere of ‘Requiem for a Dream’, co-produced with Teatr STUDIO – where the production had been staged for the first time a week earlier – took place at the Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theatre in Kraków. The starting point for the creators was Hubert Selby Jr.’s cult novel from 1978, which became a permanent fixture of pop culture thanks to Darren Aronofsky’s high-profile film adaptation. After nearly half a century, the story has returned in a new interpretation by Jakub Skrzywanek, director and artistic director of the National Old Theatre, and Jan Czapliński, who is responsible for the script and dramaturgy.
A shared experience of addiction
Originally written by Selby, the story of the frailty of four New Yorkers escaping reality through drugs and television fantasies becomes, in Skrzywanek and Czapliński’s vision, a tale of a world that transcends the perspective of ‘people
on the margins” and takes on a universal dimension, close to the experience of each of us – as a story of addictions, escapes and ways of coping with reality, which in various forms affect the present day.
What is reality today and where are we heading? – the director seems to ask. He is known for incorporating technological elements into his productions, such as mobile phone screens, which, when projected onto a large screen from the stage, allow the audience to get closer to the play’s characters and follow their actions and motivations.
At the same time, ‘Requiem for a Dream’ remains a story about drugs, which the actors playing the characters order in real time, making authentic phone calls from the stage to numbers from online advertisements available on the internet. In this way, the already thin line between reality and theatrical convention becomes even more blurred. In turn, the omnipresence of drugs shown on stage and the extraordinary ease of access to them highlights the scale of the problem, particularly when contrasted with the chorus of children’s voices – the underage characters who, regardless of their social status or the homes they come from, have been navigating the world of drugs since their early teens.
A dreamlike vision from which it is hard to look away
However, what is most moving and what gives this production its unique character is undoubtedly its sweeping visual style. Grzegorz Layer’s monumental yet highly modern set design , masterfully lit by Jacqueline Sobiszewski , leaves vivid images in the memory, establishes numerous cultural references and opens up new interpretative possibilities. Added to this, Natan Berkowicz’s projections and the opulent, baroque costumes by Lila Dziedzic, which emphasise the red that dominates the production, create a sensual and dreamlike atmosphere of a stifling, hedonistic dream from which we cannot wake up, even if we try very hard.
The set design has been conceived down to the finest detail, and even the elements of contemporary design present on stage, such as the distinctive blue Kartell Papyrus chairs – designed by the Bouroullec brothers – complement the whole with their form, balancing between classical inspiration and modern means of expression.
“We’re all on something,” reads the slogan promoting the show. Undoubtedly, Skrzywanka Theatre itself acts as a kind of intense stimulus that draws the audience into its rhythm, leaving no room for easy detachment or distraction.
Later on, the performance transitions into more collective, almost ritualistic sequences, set to the sounds of “Requiem” composed by Marcin Masecki. During both premieres – at both the STUDIO Theatre and the National Old Theatre – Marcin Masecki performed the music live, which gave the performance a distinctly concert-like dimension and rounded off its intense, ritualised stage structure.
Further performances of the production at the Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theatre in Kraków are scheduled for June.
Media partners: MINT Magazine, WPROST, Twój Styl, ‘Trójka’ – Polish Radio, Radio Kraków, Radio Kraków Kultura
The OKK! PR agency was responsible for media relations, securing sponsorships and communications for the premiere. The production was co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. St.I. Witkiewicz STUDIO Theatre: the theatre is organised by the City of Warsaw.
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