BOOKS OF ANXIETY. STANISŁAW / ANTONI / FERNANDO

A performance based on Fernando Pessoa’s “The Book of Disquiet”
as part of a chess game between three men of different ages.
The performance is based on Fernando Pessoa’s “The Book of Disquiet” and takes place during a chess game between three men of different ages.

Creators: CHOREA Theater
Director: Tomasz Rodowicz
Screenplay, dramaturgy: Katarzyna Knychalska, Tomasz Rodowicz
Assistant director: Julia Jakubowska
Costumes, set design: Jola Królicka
Music: Michał Surosz, Nevena Rodowicz
Translation of Fernando Pessoa’s text: Michał Lipszyc
Lighting: Tomasz Krukowski
Sound: Marcin Dobijański, Karol Skrzypiec
Cast: Tomasz Rodowicz, Antoni Wójcik-Urbaniak, Stanisław
Ginalski
Production manager, educational supervision: Wiktor Moraczewski
Production: CHOREA Theater
Partner: Fabryka Sztuki in Łódź
Premiere: August 18, 2023, International Theater Festival
Retroperspectives
Duration: 60 minutes (no intermission)
Age of audience: 7+

The performance is built on an open dialogue between men of different generations: between those who are beginning their conscious lives and those who are trying to end them. It is a confrontation between intergenerational attitudes towards life, death, its meanings, and values. It is a journey through different states of consciousness, emotions, and dreams. The performers thrown onto the board know that black and white can only exist on a chessboard.
They use different moves and strategies, create different situations, trying to understand each other, get to know each other, and… win their own game.
The following actors were invited to participate in the game on stage: Stanisław Ginalski, Antoni
Wójcik-Urbaniak, and Tomasz Rodowicz have been invited to the competition.
In addition to texts by Fernando (Pessoa), the script of the performance includes
texts dialoguing with him about death, life, mother, chess, war, and
dreams invented, written down, and performed on stage by
Stanisław (age 9) and Antoni (age 12).