About the school
The Ludwik Solski State Drama School in Krakow (PWST) was formed in 1946. Since 1st October 2017 the school has been named the Akademia Sztuk Teatralnych im. St. Wyspianskiego in Krakow (AST). Currently the School runs one programme of master studies leading to a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Acting Department, the Drama Directing Department, the Puppetry Department, or the Department of Dance Theater. AST is an academic public school, and it has the authority to issues the following academic degrees: Doctorate, Habilitation, and Professor of Theatre Arts. Direct supervision of the school falls to The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Departments in Krakow: The Acting Department (specialization either in dramatic acting or vocal arts and acting) and the Drama Directing Department (specialization either in directing for theater or in dramaturgy).
Martyrs
The main character of the play Martyrs, Benjamin is a teenage boy who refuses to take part in school swimming lessons. His mother suspects he uses drugs to allay the sense of discomfort caused by teenage perception and acceptance of his body. In no time she finds out that drugs are not to be blamed. It was something else that caused an equally strong addiction: the Bible. Benjamin has found faith and God, which is why swimming in mixed-sex classes is an insult to his religious zeal. He declares war on corruption and sinfulness, refusing to go swimming, as he finds girls’ bodies in bikinis offensive, and, as his classmate Lydia soon founds out, conducive to other sensations as well. His biology teacher somewhat recklessly responds to his provocations and engages in an ideological, moral, and philosophical war with unpredictable consequences.
Can sticking to the rules lead to insanity? If we are ruthless and rigid in it – maybe. Can you become bad by wanting to be good? You can. Unless we are working on ourselves instead of focusing on changing others.
The heroes of Martyrs are martyrs of ideas, not martyrs for ideas. They are not saints who sacrifice themselves in the name of ideals, but slaves of their stubbornness, capable of harming others in the name of declarations made. They torture themselves and others with their ideas. Because everyone has to be like what I declare, what I say. They are not followers, but fanatics. Not those who fight for their convictions, but those who stand by. Capable of lying and crimes in the name of their stubbornness, prisoners of words and interpretations. We live in a world of irreconcilable reasons. But does the clash of different worldviews have to lead to stubbornness? Does the counterargument always only strengthen my beliefs? I don’t listen to what you want to say, I just prepare an answer that will crush you. Because I don’t want to understand you, I want to get my way. Strong emotions distort the image, lead us to obstinacy, stubbornness leads to brutality, and then … then there is only fanaticism, which is the source of totalitarianism. I can feel it affecting all of us, more and more painfully lately. This process is taking place now. Before our eyes. With our own participation.
Author: Marius von Mayenburg
Translation: Elżbieta Ogrodowska-Jesionek
Director: Aleksandra Popławska
Scenography: Tomasz Mreńca
Costumes: Maria Matylda Wojciechowska
Music: omasz Mreńca, Daniel Spaleniak
Production: AST Krakow
Photos: Klaudyna Schubert
Cast:
Katarzyna Cichosz
Maciej Kobiela
Maciej Kosiacki
Dawid Kunicki
Michał Pietruś
Jakub Potyrała
Zuzanna Romańska
Maria Witkowska
