Marcin Bartnikowski "The Dreamer " Rež. Łukasz Lewandowski

The Dreamer

A monodrama dedicated to the life and work of Juliusz Osterwa

Drama in one act

Duration – 1 h 20 min

Performed in Polish with English/Lithuanian subtitles

Cast:

Daniel Salman

Creative team

Author – Marcin Bartnikowski
Director / Scenographer – Łukasz Lewandowski
Costume Designer – Daniel Salman
Light Designer – Piotr Bartoszewicz
Sound Designer – Tomasz Bielawiec

Performance production is financed from the funds of the SKE ZASP

The Dreamer is a monodrama by Daniel Salman about Juliusz Osterwa. Marcin Bartnikowski wrote the text, which was directed by Łukasz Lewandowski. Juliusz Osterwa is a fascinating and complicated figure: actor-social activist, mystic, pedagogue, and visionary. Osterwa and Limanowski's stage is associated with a deep studio search for means of expression, but also with the spiritual, hardly ephemeral character of laboratory theatre. Osterwaʼs biography is a colorful story itself. Its protagonist, a popular, successful young handsome actor in the theatres of Krakow and Warsaw, devotes most of his time and energy to creating his own theatre. This theatre is a contradiction of the practices of the time and does not fit into what we would call the mainstream of cultural life today. Osterwa wanted to reform theatre by introducing a new work ethos – collaborative and responsible. He treated the acting profession as a mission and almost a priestly service in the service of Art and Society.

As part of his Sisyphean work (nota bene Stefan Żeromski was often staged at the Reduta), Osterwa studies the relationships of those watching the performance (he uses the word 'osobnia' instead of the audience) and those acting in the play. He blurs the boundaries between life and theatre. He wants to exclude theatrical cliches and mediocrity. Could this intention have succeeded? Are Osterwa's ideas outdated today or are they still surprising and shocking? Is Osterwa a madman or a brave reformer? We want to look at Osterwa the man – actor, husband, father – and try to immerse ourselves – if only for an hour – in his artistic vision.

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This performance, its very core is inseparable from Vilnius Old Theatre. The experimental Polish theatre-laboratory Reduta, which operated from 1919 to 1939, was temporarily relocated to Vilnius (1925–1929) and carried out its theatrical experiments precisely in the building of Vilnius Old Theatre. At that time, Juliusz Osterwa (real name Julian Andrzej Maluszek, 1885–1947) was a true innovator, a theatrical rebel, and was already known to the audiences of Lithuania’s historical capital for the roles he had performed earlier in the theatre that once operated in Vilnius Town Hall.

Daniel Salman

Creative team

Author – Marcin Bartnikowski
Director / Scenographer – Łukasz Lewandowski
Costume Designer – Daniel Salman
Light Designer – Piotr Bartoszewicz
Sound Designer – Tomasz Bielawiec