O!PERETKA

In his 1966 commentary on Operetta, the author wrote: "But… how can one fill the puppet-like emptiness of operetta with genuine drama? The monumental idiocy of operetta, hand in hand with monumental historical pathos - the mask of operetta, behind which a twisted human face bleeds with ridiculous pain…"

In Operetta, Gombrowicz depicts the fall of the ancien régime - religion and divinely ordained power, democratization and the totalitarian monsters it spawns, only to end - well, there. What conclusion can we draw today about the world's future? Who is - and will be - the human being today?

Gombrowicz's entire vision is embodied in action built on the opposition of costume and nudity - culture and nature, regime and freedom. Twentieth-century history is presented as a kind of fashion parade, and the madness of costume illustrates the diseases of ideology-driven dictatorship that destroys human liberty. The operetta concludes with an apotheosis of eternally naked youth, eternally young nakedness - the element of spontaneous freedom that may yet save our humiliated humanity.

Premiere: January 14, 2017, Witkacy Stage. The performance is intended for audiences over 16 years old. The production uses smoke effects.