They vigilantly look at the world around them - they study reality, the condition of the human psyche, current threats and dreams. With tenderness - towards each other. The play is directed by Franciszek Szumiński and Małgorzata Jakubowska Raczkowska is in charge of dramaturgy. On stage, students of the diploma year of acting - Paweł Gabor, Julian Knaf, Wiktoria Kruszczyńska, Maria Kuśmierska, Magdalena Litwa, Oskar Organista, Magdalena Poręba, Dominika Suchecka, Krzysztof Surówka, Maciej Walter, Maciej Wysocki and Maria Wawreniuk, who became an assistant director.

Franciszek Szumiński, a graduate of acting and directing at the Academy of Theatre Arts in Krakow, decided on a demanding, risky, but also not deprived of the chance to create an extraordinary, improvisational work. The starting point is Chekhov's "Three Sisters". – There is a part of this drama that is universal, but there is also a part that has changed over time significantly which we want to update together with the students and Małgorzata Jakubowska-Raczkowska. However, much of Chekhov has remained unchanged. The core of the theme has remained, says the director.

There is no landscape of today's reality without the topic of the war in Ukraine and war emigration. It was Maria Wawreniuk's task to explore it; we used the method of documentary theatre - I interviewed Ukrainian women. I wanted to find out what their condition was, what had happened to them, what their life was like before the war and how they assimilated in Poland, says the acting student. The documenting work brought surprising results. Some of the statements that Maria brought back sounded almost like quotes from Chekhov, one sentence overlapped literally – adds the director. – These people are filled with the dream of returning, torn in double loyalty - after all, they are the ones who left their home behind. We couldn't have planned it - the lives of people currently in exile and the lives of the characters of the play from the beginning of the 20th century meet in many aspects. 

A director who, despite his young age, has directed plays which have been noticed and well received e.g. "Wild Duck" by Ibsen at the Stefan Żeromski Theatre, Mrożek's "Emigrants" at the Juliusz Osterwa Theatre in Lublin, "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Tolstoy at the Wybrzeże Theatre in Gdańsk, or "Breath" by Bernhard at the Łaźnia Nowa Theatre, invited students to co-create the show through improvisation and the documentary theatre method.

– The actor is a full-fledged creator. I would like everyone to feel that we are saying something important, something we care about, and not just re-enacting scenes from Chekhov less or more successfully, says Franciszek Szumiński. For students, it is a challenge, but also joy - We are very happy that we are working with him on the diploma project - adds Maria Wawreniuk - because of the method of work and tenderness with which he approaches the actors. We don't just do Chekhov, we explore various topics, we look at ourselves. One of the biggest frustrations in an actor's job is the feeling of being a puppet, totally lacking control. And here we have the opportunity to co-create, and also do it in a group of wonderful people - so we are extremely eager - says the actress.

While working on the play, Chekhov's characters evolved, changed, some of them are completely different. Re-created, updated, thanks to the vigilant observation of the creators. But it's still Chekhov. "Not only in two or three hundred, but even in a million years, life will be as it was (...)" he wrote at the beginning of the last century. In the graduation play of acting students, we look at people who are living over a hundred years later. They dream of going not to Moscow but to Paris, but does it matter where they want to go? – The leitmotif is the dream of leaving. About returning. About a different, better world. It's an enchanted circle. This dream focuses and hurts because it does not fit into reality, says the director.

A novelty in relation to Chekhov's drama is certainly the topic of war. How strongly will it feature in this show? – Just like in our reality – says Franciszek Szumiński. It is the background, but it is very determining, perhaps more than we think. We have already "got used to" war; it has become our everyday life, but perhaps right now something fundamental is happening in the recesses of our psyche. This will not go unnoticed.

The premiere of the play will take place on 18, February at the Studyjny Theatre in Łódź.
 
ed. Jolanta Karpińska
photos Mikołaj Zacharow