“Patrz Mi Na Usta” Theatre
Welcome to Café Domino
Premiere 02/03/04.06.2004 Sfinks, Sopot


Spectacle:
The play was composed and directed by Krzysztof Leon Dziemaszkiewicz in cooperation with Bożena Eltermann and guest actors such as Anna Steller and Milena Rewińska (ex-Dada von Bzdulow), Magdalena Jędra (Plastique Dod), Jacek Krawczyk (Okazjonalny theatre) and Magda Frąckiewicz.

Metatheatricality:
The title and the whole structure of the performance constitute a metatheatrical message. Two little curtains (one in the shape of a huge vagina and the other being a plain partition of velvet fabric), changeability of conventions within the performance (suggesting references to popular theatre, vaudeville, revue and circus) and a number of other metatheatrical signs (theatre within theatre, onstage group photos, movie quotations) suggest the performance is both a communication vehicle and its subject. The play’s reality is the reality of the stage and not a reflection of the reality around us.  

Mixture of styles and genres:
The vaudeville structure of the performance combines ritual and Artaudian expressionist ritualism, magic realism, circus, freak show (a show of freaks of nature), contemporary dance, Robert Wilson’s esthetics, a fashion show, folklore. This theatre arises in opposition to drama theatre, psychological acting, mimetism, Western theatrical conventions, Aristotle’s poetics and dominance of the word. The spectacle is characterized with tempo changes and an oniric atmosphere, where the division into the past, present and future has been abolished. History becomes archetypal. This archetype is subjected to a fresh and unique interpretation.   

The word:
The role of the word in spectacles is reduced to a minimum. The sound and rhythmic value of words uttered on the stage is what counts more about them. The word expresses the multi-cultural experiences of the authors. German and Polish words used in the performance have both literal and symbolic meanings; they convey humor and terror.

Acting:
Acting is vivid, engaging the actor’s body and facial expression. Actors search for signs and movements carrying strong emotional loads and intuitively perceived meanings. At some moments actors change into Artaudian “live hieroglyphs”. Movement may sometimes slow down or become rhythmic, to draw the viewer’s attention not to the story as such or its linear development but to the here-and-now, to the lingering presence. This technique is close both to that of Wilson and the Japanese Noh.

The audience:
Signs, symbols, quotations and the game involved invite the audience to actively participate in the performance. The audience is not expected to follow the director’s mind but to actively read and individually (filtering with their own experience) interpret the stage reality, to succumb to the magic created with the work’s structure. The intensity of the feelings is to become the vehicle taking the audience to the subconscious. It is a theatre of emotion, not reason.

Symbolism:
References to the popular theatre (actors’ expressive techniques) and popular religious devotion in an iconic (often literally!) selection of costumes and their surprising matches can be perceived, on the one hand, as being close to kitsch or, on the other hand, as geographic (central European) placement of the sources of art. The reason behind this selection of means is first of all a search for an interpretable sign, communication with the audience at the level of icons. Icons explored in the performance of Patrz Mi Na Usta Theatre are more than just sources – they are applied because of how well they match the criterion of clear communication. Inviting us to interpret a sign, authors intervene in its meaning. “Café Domino” contrasts it with another one (nudity, animal nature), pulling down the conventional definitions of one and final religious affiliation and cultural identity. Symbols of clear religious origins become in the spectacle international, globally interpretable signs. There is a well-defined spiritual purpose in drawing on the kitsch esthetics then. For this reason it longer is kitsch really but rather a sign serving to communicate and to stimulate contact with the audience. A mix of high and low culture conventions as well as a search for effective iconic communication makes this theatre spiritually close to the Latino theatre. Authors use clear signs to stimulate the viewer. It is not about shocking the audience as is often thought in relation to this theatre though but about engaging viewers in a theatrical game where they will participate with their own interpretations of reality and hyper-reality in what is a unique manipulation on theatrical conventions.

Political character of work:  
Thanks to this game, we are encouraged in “Cafe Domino” to get rid of binary glasses through which we can see the world as made up of simple oppositions. The time of the spectacle is flexible – it accelerates or slows down. Conventions overlap, heroes transform (mother-human being becomes  a mother-peacock at the end of her quest, while an innocent girl becomes an animal tamer and God/Beast fawns on people), theatrical realities, awake or dreams, paradise and horror, intuition and faith, concealed desires and the survival instinct, the divine and the beastly, the feminine and the masculine intertwine and blend. The spectacle encourages us to open to the limitless mind, and, consequently, to agree to the dissimilarity, to the heterogeneity of the world. Our identity is undergoing never-ending changes – it is not static but is reshaped on contact with the dissimilar. Transgender, transsexual motifs have long been present in Dziemaszkiewicz’s work. Here they have been harmonically integrated into the whole ontological assumption of the spectacle. Reaching for premonitions, instincts, emotions, “Café Domino” asks questions concerning the borderlines between the beastly and the divine, the reality and the hyper-reality, between what is real and tangible and what can only be felt. Our primeval traits hidden in the mind and the desire for affection make us both gods and animals. The spectacle’s structure answers the question concerning man’s strength: it is the power of imagination.

Interdisciplinarity:
Interdisciplinarity is a characteristic feature of the spectacle which exerts influence on the sense of sight with rich costumes. Alicja Gruca designed a collection whose presentation becomes the central part of the performance. Much importance was attached to the choice of music. Music defines meanings, builds up tension and is the co-teller. Sometimes music is created live with simple means or on the side of the stage. It emphasizes the ritual character of some scenes.

The story:
The story-line is well marked but it is not the most important element. Through the curtain/vagina a child/monkey is born with the assistance of two demonic-stereotyped sexy nurses. In the scene of a walk with a pushchair, we meet the child’s mother (Eltermann); her presence and her story is built by a rustling forest/jungle. During the walk, the mother recalls her meeting with the child’s father. Lost in thoughts, she forgets about her child and so it is kidnapped by three grotesque female hunters. The mother experiences moments of despair but she gets red high-heeled shoes which improve her mood. What is more, she meets somebody. Dziemaszkiewicz in a decorative G-string and beaded necklaces resembles both an ancient God/Lover and a wild animal. His movement shows his transformation: he changes his sexual interests. First he dances with Eltermann to change moments later into a homosexual. Holding lilies in his arms, he calls “Bogumił” and the theme from “Noce I Dnie” (Days and Nights) movie continues just as it did in the dance scene. The effect is comic and disarmingly honest. The mother marked by her tragedy and the meeting sets out on a journey in search of her child. The play can be interpreted as a mythical quest for a lost treasure. In this sense, it is an archetypal story.
Parallel to the mother’s story, the child’s story takes place. For a moment, the little monkey’s fortunes are dictated by the three hunters’ mischief. The role of these women can be read as that of trickster, prankster and goblin from the oral tradition of many nations. Their scene is a combination of comic and ritual elements.  These and other characters are not clearly defined and their main principle is that of transformation. In the case of the tricksters, play may turn into horror. The little monkey is found by a girl called Mini Madzia, who in turn finds her true love in Mr. Wąsik. The spectacle’s love scene is romantically calm and beamingly joyful. It ends then in an invitation to a show of wonders of this world. On adopting the monkey, the heroes sit down on a suitcase and join us in watching a circus show. It is another metatheatrical sign for the audience, a theatre in a theatre.  
The new parents and their child are weird enough to get themselves adopted by the circus people. We then see the monkey’s further fortunes, life in the circus where Mr. Wąsik is an athlete and Mini Madzia is an animal tamer. The scenes ending this show are a true riot of images and sounds. The parade of Polar Bears and the grownup gorilla is absurdly comic, charmingly innocent, emanating with the miracle of stage transformations. The spectacle closes with a ritual dance of the mother transformed into a peacock and the ultimate reunion of the lost child with its mother/animal. The story is construed on the basis of multiple themes: quest, trickster, part man/part animal. In this regard, the tale refers to the heroes and themes typical of the oral tradition.