Holly Pre-Matt-Brock Poland

Wow!  I could not have asked for a more challenging or amazing arts experience.  I was physically and mentally pushed, it was like theatre boot camp.  It was very emotionally straining to be away from Matt and Brock and I was constantly wrestling guilt for being so far away.  But, I can say it was worth it.  Mr. Dzuik is the most inspired, visionary, wise, and kind director I have ever worked with.  He helped me re-remember why art is important and that boldness and experience are sometimes uncomfortable and illogical, but are integral to the process of living a life of passion by extending the senses to their fullest.  His theatre and the artists that work there make up the Witkacy Theatre - absolutely wonderful humans and the spectacle they create there is certainly some of the very best work I have ever seen based on my many years of travel and seeing theatre from around the world.  Their work is inspired by Stanislav Witkiewicz, one of the heroes of anti-establishment ideas and art in Poland during the second world war and the playwright of the piece we created there in collaboration.  Based on his play, "The Madman and the Nun", we renamed our production/ adaptation "John Doe" which in a nutshell, tragically follows how the beauty in madness is poisoned by the toxic remedy of normalization. Be warned, it is a really intense show.  Matt might be able to reflect on it better as I haven't really seen it.  It was an enormous success and very well received.  Now we just have to remake the magic here in Chicago.  These photo's are Brockless, so infinitely less cute, but hey, I took a few pics.  

Mike, John and Johnny at the base of the mountain on our first night in Zakopane.  Matt and Brock and I grabbed lunch at that place in the back ground later.  Beata told us it was 15 minutes to the top.  45 minutes later a few of the crew were a bit sour... I was delighted!

Here we see Beata and Johnny hiking up the trail to the bar.  Did I mention there was beer at the top?

The rest of the crew, Nicole, John and Garvey.

We got to the top only to find out the bar was closed.  Sooooo thirsty!

 Livestock and Poland go hand in hand, be prepared for many shots of hoofed mammals.

Ha ha!  We found one tavern open for one more hour.  Also the bar with the best view, huzzah!

Zakopane overlook and the stunning Tatra Mountains in the back.

It was late, and we had our first day of rehearsal in the morning, so we opted to take the tram down.

First day of rehearsal, in front of the theatre.

There are two performance spaces at the Witkacy Theatre, we are in the front of the main stage.

There is Stas in all of his glory.  We were told a secret that the paint on this mural is actually gold.

We were all a little nervous on the first day, so Mr. Dzuik brought social lubricants.  This is unheard of at the Witkacy theatre and we had to carry the empty bottles out with us in our backpacks so that the cleaning crew wouldn't find it.  The ritual carried on through the rehearsal process, but we always had to earn it.

The following day, the theatre treated us to a walking tour of Zakopane.  Here we are on Krupowki Street, the main tourist drag.

So Stas Witkiewicz's dad, also named Stanislaw Witkiewicz created the "Zakopane Style" of architecture, basically very charming wood cottages with steeply inclined roofs keep the copious snow from collecting.

Gaudi meets Zakopane Style.

The man himself!  Well, not really, as no part of his body is actually in this grave, but it still serves as his memorial.  

Wood is the main artistic medium in Zakopane.  This very special graveyard is reserved for Zakopane's most valued residents through its history.

Stas's dad is also buried here.

A famous wood sculptor from the village.

I just love the natural influence here.  Beautiful!

Zakopane is a Shepard town and sheep are its main resource (besides tourism).  Their cheese, called Oscypek, is everywhere.

More mountain view, this time from the following day when we went for the walking tour of town.

Zakopane is known for their ski jump arena and training center.

This is a quick shot from a concert we went to at the theatre, fantastic!

The visual artist Haisor is a favorite of Mr. Dzuik.  We were instructed to visit the gallery for a taste of Teatr Witkacy's aesthetic.  While in Zakopane, I saw one of their productions staged in the gallery.  It was, of course, fantastic, even in Polish.  Everything we saw was in Polish, but most of the time it did not matter as the relationships were very clear and the visual feel communicated the general idea.

Haisor makes most of his art from found items that he collages together.

Haisor is also known for his banners.  This room highlights many of them.  He was also very big in the Happenings movement and there were images and videos in the gallery of some his more famous live presentations.  One such was a piano that was engineered to swish a blade at the players hands with each hit of the keys, slashing his wrists if he kept playing.  Heavy!

You will see more of Kaspowry Wierch later as it was so beautiful I had to take Matt and Brock up there.  On my first trip there we took the gondola up and hiked down.

It poured rain when we got to the top, but in Zakopane you generally just have to wait it out.  Luckily there was Piwo to kill time with.  When it cleared we had a beautiful rainbow to guide us down the hill.

The topography quite reminds me of Alaska.

This was our natural version of a Haisor work.  

There are sheep everywhere.  Here the Shepard du jour lead his flock down outside of our apartment.

"Dibs" is an international phenomenon.

Here is the poster of our show.

A shot from rehearsal.  

Here is the master, Mr. Dzuik.  Quite a resemblance to Christopher Walken I would say.  He's waving goodbye after one of our last pow wows with performance notes.  An amazing person, so honored to have been able to work with him!  Could not have done it without the absolute magnificence of Matt, and mom and dad for being such awesome Brock watchers. More pics of the second half to come!