The review – THE GULF

The monodrama of Polish provenance shows us how difficult it is sometimes to decide to take a step into adulthood. The performance tells the story of Sindibad, a sailor from the Thousand and One Nights. It is a free stream of events that happen to him before he leaves.

The play brings several consecutive scenes, all of which are connected by the theme of the sea, swimming or drowning. Drowning in one’s own confusion, fear, in this case the fear of adulthood.

There are only a few simple props in the performance – a table, a piece of foam, a spring… – but they are perfectly used. Most of them represent something alive for a given moment, something that leads the main character, advises him or, on the contrary, bothers him and then surprises him. Changing which object is currently the main protagonist easily accompanied us in intertwining the individual Sindibad’s adventures.

I consider the performance of the only, and thus the main actor, to be very good. At times he was a character himself, at times a leader of “puppets” – living objects that conveyed a message to us. Changes in voice, grimace, and gestures changed smoothly with the puppet conversation.

The stage was only very dimly lit, but what was important was always lit. Mostly the centre of the stage, where the table stood, an important prop for many events. The play was accompanied by a few tones of guitar, in my opinion very appropriately and aptly.

The performance as a whole managed to attract me most of the time; some longer scenes, where only pantomime depicted the plot, were difficult for me to understand. What was it supposed to be about at that moment. Some twists or turns were very inconspicuous, others on the contrary very contrasting, and thus much more interesting for me.

The conclusion of the story calmed me down a lot, for I realized for myself where I was on my way to adulthood.

Marie Klára Vonzino (SLU)