Review
What does an Icelander have against the Pole?
15.01.2024
The land of frost, elves and volcanoes. It is distant to us, abstract like an alien planet. The Embassy of Iceland in Poland was opened only in 2022. The first Poles appeared on this island less than a hundred years ago, but this was enough for them to now constitute the largest minority. This non-obvious fact became the starting point for the play "A Few Stories from Iceland" directed by Una Thorleifsdottir in Stefan Żeromski Theater in Kielce.
A huge lunar dome, a glacier wall instead of a horizon, a shiny black sand scattered, most likely volcanic. Several stools covered with silver foil. Instead of backstage – glass. Covered in smoke and illuminated with intense colors set decoration, designed by Mirek Kaczmarek, is hypnotizing. Monumental, it would probably appear more willingly on the larger, main stage, which is under renovation, than on the temporary one in the Municipal Cultural Center. Actors dressed in white - like guides, or perhaps explorers of a distant planet.
From the very beginning of the performance, one can feel the fragmentation and lack of linearity of the narrative, typical of Weronika Murek's playwriting. The text was based on source materials collected during her stay in Iceland and improvisations by the acting team. The main theme of the show is the arrival of a Polish journalist to Iceland, looking for materials for a book about Poles living there. She meets an Icelandic journalist who tells her a story about his homeland. He introduces new characters, and they become a pretext for presenting Polish-Icelandic relations.
It happens at a dizzying pace, the cast consists of six actors, and there are dozens of characters. This dramatic solution enhances the playful mood of the performance. The spectator needs a moment to accept such a narrative, but over time it becomes pleasantly clear. Patches on the actors' clothes, which change each time they play a new character, help identify the characters. The kaleidoscope of characters forms several colorful stories about Iceland and Poland, some following stereotypes, some deconstructing them. The transformations of the characters evoke playing a casting game (the play is full of self-irony). The actors' acting is deliberately exaggerated, they use character types, but without pastiche.
The drama combines many threads, Weronika Murek skillfully navigates the world of culture and history, putting together non-obvious facts, giving them an intriguing tone. The promotional materials for the show contain lofty slogans about national identity. Before entering the auditorium, we receive Theatre Program, which contains an extensive article compiling statements by theoreticians from various centuries about the nation and its origins. There is little left of this slightly inflated seriousness in the performance. The issue of identity is signaled rather than solved. The questions repeated by the journalist are meant to remind us of this, but they sound a bit artificial due to their literalness and pathos. Quite obvious punchline about an unnoticed similarity in the final scene is also not helping. We will not hear the answer to this question stated at the beginning: what is a nation and what does it mean to be part of it.
The creators address many important topics, including migration, but their multitude means that none of them is in-depth examined, there is no analysis of the phenomena. The spectator receives a postcard from Iceland, one can only say, but extremely pleasing to the eye and ear. Gisl Galdur Thorgeirsson's music covers a spectrum of genres, from old Icelandic songs to club music. He knows when to step into the background, but he plays a completely autonomous role. It's a delight.
Ludwika Gołaszewska-Siwiak, Nowa Siła Krytyczna