język polskijęzyk angielski

Ślepowrońska, Dagna

To be born again

Genre
Drama
Female cast
Male cast
Original language of the play
Original title
Talk show, czyli czwarte narodziny Anieli K.*

A psychological drama 

Apart from Aniela, all the characters of the play remain seated in the auditorium until their time comes to go on the stage and perform their parts. 

Aniela K. is the subject of psychoanalysis. The therapeutic drama she takes part in is called “The Woman Who Was Born Three Times”. Aniela K. tells the audience some details of her three biographies and shares her feeling of being reborn. This is a rare opportunity for her, as she has always wanted to be a star that attracts attention of many people. Meanwhile, on the stage there appear some characters from her life. Unfortunately, they contradict her words, because to them she is the person she doesn’t like and doesn’t want to be. Aniela reveals the trauma of her childhood; her story is more and more engaging. Seemingly chaotic, it does get clearer. The audience starts to understand why Aniela behaves the way she does. The moment in which she decides to become somebody else is being recreated during the process of psychoanalysis. The character makes a substitute of her unsuccessful life and personality. Only in this way is she able to cope with a series of disappointments. Paradoxically, it helps her be normal and somehow adjusted to society. This is the story of Aniela’s three incarnations. Furthermore, there is still time for her fourth existence, which is rising in front of our eyes. It is supposed to be the life of the star. But she is not allowed to be born again, because the Mother, the Grandmother, the Father and the Husband do not want another Aniela. Nobody wants her performance anymore. She is left alone in the darkness of the stage.

Luncheon meat

Genre
Drama
Female cast
Male cast
Original language of the play
Characters
Mature Daughter, Old Mother
Original title
Mielonka

A grotesque psychodrama featuring an Old Mother and her forty-year-old Daughter. Both women, who still live together, build up a toxic relationship, the Daughter devouring enormous amounts of food and the Mother persistently cleaning the floor. It is a strange game they play, bringing each other constant suffering and yet living in a strange symbiosis. The Mother is always on her daughter’s beck and call, always ready to go shopping for food. They both struggle with the absence of the father, who gradually becomes a mythical figure, more and more idealized in the Daughter’s fantasies. 

Ślepowrońska, Dagna

Dagna Ślepowrońska, born in 1959, a psychologist, poet and playwright, a graduate of psychology department and a social therapy school. Since 1988 she has been working as a therapist with individuals, groups and families. Her play Luncheon Meat (published in the “Dialog” magazine) was premiered in Teatro Caprile in Vienna and was also published in German in Anthologie Polnisher Dramen den Gegewart in 2000. She has also published three volumes of poetry; her poems have been translated into English and Ucrainian.