Performance “The Old Lady Sits Waitiing” | Poland
Creators: STUDIO Theatre in Warsaw
Performance based on the drama by Tadeusz Różewicz “The Old Lady Sits Waiting”
Direction: Irena Jun
Direction cooperation: Natalia Korczakowska
Music: Tadeusz Wielecki
Costumes: Marek Adamski
Lighting: Aleksandr Prowaliński
Producer: Ewa Grzebyk
Video: Piotr Lachmann
Cast: Irena Jun, Tadeusz Wielecki
Premiere: April 5, 2024
The performance uses a fragment of the video “How to play an old woman solo? Questions for the author.”
Idea, direction and camera: Piotr Lachmann
Date: August 30, 2025 | Saturday
Time: 7 pm
Place: Stage, Art Factory in Łódź, 3 Tymienieckiego Street
Tickets: 40 PLN - early bird / 50 PLN - reduced / 70 PLN - regular
Ticket sales: kicket.com portal / online payment
Early bird tickets: on sale until July 13, 2025
Regular and reduced tickets: on sale from July 14, 2025
Duration: 50 minutes
Age Restrictions: none
Language: Polish
Performance interpreted into Polish Sign Language (PJM)
After the performance, around 8:30 pm, we invite the viewers to a meeting and discussion with the artists.
The discussion will take place in the Foyer of the Art Factory in Łódź.
The discussion will be led by Tomasz Domagała.
The discussion will be held in Polish.
The discussion will be interpreted into Polish Sign Language (PJM)
DESCRIPTION OF THE PERFORMANCE
Tadeusz Różewicz's response to the crisis caused by the rapid development of civilization is the figure of the Old Woman. Her wisdom, irony and presence provide relief and hope. It is worth listening to her truth, which she speaks like the spells of ancient, close-to-nature knowledge. Thanks to her, it may be possible to save what the author calls the garbage dump of civilization, the dump of the world…
In her masterful monodrama, which premiered at STUDIO Theatre in 1988 and now returns in a refreshed form, Irena Jun made the character of the Old Woman the entire cosmos of the performance. She is a female version of the old god, immortal and indestructible, rising at dawn when civilization is dying, seeing cowardice and heroism, greatness and smallness, in their full dimensions. A sensitive guide, drawing on the archetype of the sorceress, a wise woman that is being rediscovered today. A person worth meeting and listening to - not only to discover how surprisingly relevant Tadeusz Różewicz's text is today.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTIST
Irena Jun - actress and director, one of the most outstanding performers of Beckett's roles in the world, lecturer at the Theatre Academy in Warsaw. Graduate of the Acting Department of the State Higher School of Theatre in Kraków. She has performed in theatres all over Poland, but is most closely associated with Warsaw. She has been a member of the STUDIO Theatre ensemble since the establishment of this stage in 1972. She has played in most of the performances of its artistic directors: Józef Szajna and Jerzy Grzegorzewski. In the 80s, she became famous as the author of outstanding roles in Antoni Libera's performances, based on texts by Samuel Beckett. Alongside Tadeusz Łomnicki, she played Woman 2 in “Comedy” (1985) and Nell in “Endgame” (1986), but her greatest achievements were three Beckett one-act plays: "Not I", "Steps", and "Lullaby" from 1985. She has also performed with directors such as: Mariusz Treliński, Piotr Cieplak, Oskaras Koršunovas, Grzegorz Wiśniewski, Agnieszka Glińska. In STUDIO she also directed her own performances: “Biesiada u hrabiny Kotłubaj”, “Filozofia po góralsku” and “Oniegin”. Currently she can be seen in a monodrama directed by herself “Mother Makryna” and “Biesy” by Natalia Korczakowska, among others. As a master of words, she is also the author of many monodramas, chamber performances and poetry evenings, which she organizes in her One-Person Poetry Theatre of Irena Jun. Her repertoire includes works by Mickiewicz, Gombrowicz, Miłosz, Szymborska, Rymkiewicz. In 2008, she received the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis, in 2024 she was awarded a special prize from the “Theatre” magazine for her “consistent translation of poetry into the language of theatre”, and in the same year she also received the Award of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for her entire body of work.
