Retroperspektywy 2023

In­ter­na­tio­nal The­atre Fe­sti­val Re­tro­per­spek­ty­wy 2023

GE­NE­RA­TIONS

Au­gust 18-27, 2023

CHO­REA The­atre / Art Fac­to­ry in Lodz

The the­me of the 2023 RPS Fe­sti­val re­vo­lves aro­und what bu­ilds ten­sions be­twe­en ge­ne­ra­tions, what is se­eking for un­der­stan­ding, or re­con­struc­tion, or con­scio­us bre­aking with, or com­pre­hen­ding what con­nec­tions are abo­ut, and abo­ve all, it is an at­tempt to find your­self in in­ter­ge­ne­ra­tio­nal re­la­tion­ships. Hen­ce the slo­gan – GE­NE­RA­TIONS – to which we de­di­ca­te this year’s edi­tion of the Fe­sti­val.

In ti­mes of ra­pid chan­ges, con­flicts, de­struc­tion of re­la­tion­ships, loss of me­aning, and qu­estio­ning men­tal and fa­mi­ly ties, our first re­ac­tion is to look for an­swers from our lo­ved ones. Does each ge­ne­ra­tion have to re­de­fi­ne it­self? Will the me­mo­ry of old va­lu­es save us in ti­mes of an erup­tion of thre­ats, or will it ra­ther be a new, pu­ri­fy­ing un­der­stan­ding of the world, one that re­jects the past as an ar­cha­ic fa­ilu­re? Do the post-war ge­ne­ra­tions, ones that to­day live in the face of a real war and a real cli­ma­te ca­ta­stro­phe, need new va­lu­es, new gu­ide­po­sts, and new he­ro­es? Who are our pa­rents, grand­pa­rents, and who are the­ir chil­dren? Do we pass on so­me­thing more in our ge­nes than DNA co­des and the abi­li­ty to re­pro­du­ce them? Do we pass on so­me­thing more than trau­mas, fe­ars, and con­fu­sion to the fu­tu­re ge­ne­ra­tions? What do we want to pro­vi­de young pe­ople with, apart from eco­no­mic se­cu­ri­ty? What do we need each other for? What do we want to save in the world with the­ir hands and the­ir minds? Is it ne­ces­sa­ry at all?

The the­atre li­sts the­se qu­estions as one of the most im­por­tant ones for us and for con­tem­po­ra­ry art. Thro­ugh va­rio­us nar­ra­ti­ves, and often also thro­ugh the per­so­nal sto­ries of the ar­ti­sts, the the­atre tells us – in dif­fe­rent ways and in dif­fe­rent lan­gu­ages – that in key mo­ments of life, when we ask abo­ut who we re­al­ly are (or who we are not for sure), the an­swer must be so­ught in our re­la­tion­ships. With our fa­ther, mo­ther, an­ce­stors, and our child. The world it­self – in its dan­ger, mad­ness, un­con­trol­la­ble re­pul­sions – will not give us an an­swer.

To­masz Ro­do­wicz
Ar­ti­stic Di­rec­tor of the In­ter­na­tio­nal The­atre Fe­sti­val Re­tro­per­spek­ty­wy

The In­ter­na­tio­nal The­atre Fe­sti­val Re­tro­per­spek­ty­wy (RPS) has been held cyc­li­cal­ly sin­ce 2010 in Fa­bry­ka Sztu­ki at 3 Ty­mie­niec­kie­go Stre­et in Lodz. Ha­ving the form of a fe­sti­val, it of­fers the most at­trac­ti­ve the­atre and dan­ce pro­po­sals from Po­land and other parts of the world. The event can be cha­rac­te­ri­sed by high pro­fes­sio­na­lism of per­for­mers, uni­qu­eness and co­he­ren­ce of the pro­gram­me, ava­ila­bi­li­ty to a wide and di­ver­si­fied au­dien­ce, rich of­fer of work­shops and me­etings with emi­nent au­thors of the­atre arts.

We want to con­si­sten­tly con­ti­nue with our de­ve­lop­ment, which has been oc­cur­ring for a co­uple of years now, and or­ga­ni­se yet ano­ther edi­tion of the in­ter­na­tio­nal fe­sti­val to in­vi­te out­stan­ding ar­ti­sts with the­ir the­atre, dan­ce and mu­sic per­for­man­ces. We will make it po­ssi­ble for the au­dien­ce to take part in the World of The­atre who­se main aim is a di­sco­ur­se on con­tem­po­ra­ry re­ali­ty as well as a se­arch for ori­gi­nal me­ans of ar­ti­stic expres­sion. Long-time con­si­sten­cy of get­ting thro­ugh to va­rio­us so­cial gro­ups (in­tel­lec­tu­als, pe­ople from un­der­se­rved com­mu­ni­ties, el­der­ly, stu­dents, youth, fa­mi­lies with chil­dren) and bu­il­ding fe­sti­val au­dien­ce de­ve­lop­ment con­tri­bu­ted to the event be­ing po­pu­lar and wi­de­ly re­co­gni­zed on the cul­tu­ral map of Lodz. Fe­sti­val goes bey­ond re­gu­lar un­der­ta­kings of CHO­REA The­atre and it al­lows per­for­man­ces by Po­lish and in­ter­na­tio­nal ar­ti­sts who deal with the art of the­atre and dan­ce. It is an excu­se and an extra­or­di­na­ry chan­ce for per­for­man­ces that CHO­REA The­atre co-cre­ates with in­ter­na­tio­nal the­atres and ar­ti­sts. An im­por­tant idea, that pro­mo­tes the fe­sti­val from the very be­gin­ning, is cre­ating a brid­ge be­twe­en se­ar­ching no­vi­ces and sta­ge ma­sters, be­twe­en tra­di­tion and avant-gar­de.

Pro­ject fi­nan­ced by the City of Łódź.

Pro­ject re­ali­sed in terms of ACT IN_OUT Pro­ject, or­ga­ni­sed by Art Fac­to­ry in Lodz, in co­ope­ra­tion with CHO­REA The­atre form Lodz, Vi­sjo­ner Te­ater from Oslo and Nor­we­gian Na­tio­nal Com­pa­ny of Con­tem­po­ra­ry Dan­ce - Car­te Blan­che form Ber­gen. The ACT IN_OUT Pro­ject is fi­nan­ced by Ice­land, Liech­ten­ste­in and Nor­way, thanks to a grant form Nor­way Grants and EEA (Eu­ro­pe­an Eco­no­mic Area). Wor­king to­ge­ther for a gre­en, com­pe­ti­ti­ve and in­c­lu­si­ve Eu­ro­pe.