The Lesson

A theatrical production based on the drama "The Lesson" by Eugène Ionesco - a leading figure of European absurdist theatre. A professor, a science fanatic, puts a new student through a grueling training of body and mind. The action unfolds in a cardboard world that derives meaning solely from the characters' intentions. The creators deliberately avoid a heavy atmosphere - comedy here is a principle as important as in Ionesco's own work - and an unexpected sequence of events interweaves with amusing dialogues about the dangers of extremism, including radical thought and ideology.

"The Lesson" as staged by the Theatre of Strange Occurrences premiered in February 2023 at Club Under the Lizards. Since then, the production has been presented at nationwide festivals - including KKM m-teatr organized by the Baltic Drama Theatre in Koszalin and the Small Festival of Artistic Forms in Nowy Sącz - as well as during tours through the Lower Silesian region (Zgorzelec, Milicz, Bielawa, Kłodzko). The production is a beneficiary of the Lotto Foundation grant programme in the name of Halina Konopacka. The license to use the works was issued by the Authors' Association ZAIKS.

PROFESSOR - Michał Orzyłowski
STUDENT - Maria Pilch
MAID - Alicja Kurowska

Directed by - Michał Szafarski
Dramaturgy - Natalia Mazurkiewicz
Set design - Sabina Kopińska
Choreography - Alicja Kurowska / Michał Orzyłowski
Photography - Małgorzata Fatalska