#darkness by Tomasz Kaczorowski is an ambitious and attractive travesty of Joseph Conard’s Heart of Darkness, embedded in corporate culture and told in the language of social media displayed on smarthpones; the language of brief text messages, instant questions and instant answers. Kaczorowski found a unique narrative formula and style for his play, reflected in its distinctive structure, which reminds us of programming language, text from chatrooms and instant messengers etc.). It is worth noting that the target group of #darkness mostly consists of young people (teenagers and young white collar workers), which is why Kaczorowski tries to communicate with his peers in their own language. It is vital to define who may stand for “Kurtz” and “Marlow” figures in the modern world, but readers are free to imagine. #darkness is an invitation to critical thinking, a fascinating intellectual exercise already done by the author, so now the time has come for readers to do the same.
− Jacek Wakar, introductory essay to Polska jest mitem. Nowe dramaty anthology
You hold a smartphone. And inside this device there are text messages, Facebook, Instagram. It’s hard to imagine life without it. There are about 16 milligrams of copper in an average smartphone model. And where can you find copper? Mainly in Chile. More and more smartphones are needed, so more and more mines are opened. Let’s take another look: there is cobalt in a phone’s battery, its main source are the mines located in Congo. The heart of darkness is closer than you think…
Hearts of darkness are the real places on Earth: anywhere civil wars and exploitation of natural resources take place. #darkness is an attempt to reflect upon our indifference and responsibility for contemporary world, and also a chance to rethink Conrad’s novel.
− from promotional materials of the Horzyca Theatre in Toruń