IOTA - a creative theatre run by Mr. Zbigniew Waszkielewicz
(established
1986), has ultimately been based in the Radzie village, Mazurian district
(between Ełk and Giżycko,
8 km from
Wydminy, Poland), since 1995.
The stage for the theatre is a yard
of a house registered as ‘Radzie 26’,
and, a 5-hectare meadow. There, a peculiar permanent outdoor theatre
has been created which, together with the backs (meadows on which to gather
visual art objects and the participating audiences; car-parks, etc.), covers a
total area of 10 ha which, in case one needs it, can as a whole be used as an
arena of artistic action. The open-air scene has natural vertical wings,
resulting from a folded ground, as well as side and back ones, in the form of a
surrounding forest.
IOTA prepares and holds premiere
performances of all its programmes in Radzie. The repertoire may be watched
staged in summer (July-August), and, sporadically, also in other seasons of the
year; it is created, usually, out of theatrical workshops held with a group of
professional artists and volunteers of all ages.
MAJOR OPEN-AIR PROJECTS
1995
premiere show of Dwoje ludzieńków (The
Two Manikinnies) after Bolesław Leśmian, a performance still given in
Radzie and, at times, elsewhere;
1997
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Pieśń o Chlebie (Song of Bread), a performance based on the Bible texts (Job, Psalm No. 65), production made possible thanks to a support from the King Stephen Bathori Foundation. A project in progress, continuation in the following years planned. |
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1998
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Gniazdo - ptaki ziemi niczyjej (The Nest: Birds of No-Man’s-Land), show-hiking among an installation using the motif of kłobuki - hats, i.e., ‘birdies’ of the Mazurian-region legends (in the project, patrons of an ‘alchemy of miracles’ and witnesses to the tragic fates of those lands). The spectacle is accompanied with music by Ludwig van Beethoven. Production based on a financial support from the King Stephen Bathori Foundation. A project in progress, realised throughout 1999, to be continued. |
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Mediament - a simultaneous installation around the theme
of our intercourse with the media, a gift as well as a nuisance of the age we
live in.
1999
|
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Gry Medialne (The Mass-Media Games), a show on the media again, the
scene where plays are performed being stage-setting installations built of
‘media rubbish’, sound and vision carriers. Another, not necessarily the last
one, attempt at providing a response to a course of events headed: THE MEDIA
VERSUS OUR IDENTITY. |
2000
Outdoors Festival of Masurian Great Lakes,
edition 2000
2001
Outdoors Festival of Masurian Great Lakes,
edition 2001
„WHO AM I – WHO ARE YOU?”,
parades: „KŁOBUKI”, TCHNIENIA TONI”;
2002
ARTISTIC SUMMER IN RADZIE:
SONG OF BREAD
FIRST LOVE
TELEGRAM
WHO AM I – WHO ARE YOU? – version II
WHO?WHAT? – EARTH (preparation show)
2003
ARTISTIC SUMMER IN RADZIE:
WHO?WHAT? – EARTH
WHO AM I – WHO ARE YOU? – version III
SONG OF BREAD
FIRST LOVE
SONG OF WOMEN
2004
ARTISTIC SUMMER IN RADZIE:
WHO?WHAT? – EARTH
FIRST LOVE
SONG OF WOMEN
2005-2006
Zbigniew Waszkielewicz was staying abroad; works of new projects:
HEART OF A DOG by Mikhail Bulgakov;
OUTDOORS – with IOTA Theatre in European Homelands
(preparation of the way and calendar)
2007
ARTISTIC SUMMER IN RADZIE:
Spectacle OUTDOORS (first night) 27- 28 July
Writing new play SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT September-December
Project OUTDOORS WITH IOTA THEATRE IN EUROPEAN HOMELANDS
(preparation of the way - continuation)
IOTA:
history in brief (before 1995)
The first performance of the IOTA Theatre was LAMUS (The Lumber Room, 1986), followed by another version of the same theme, entitled LAMUS II.
- UNIFORMY (Uniforms, 1990) proved the first spectacle in a cycle headed THE EMBALLAGE THEATRE
- GRAWITACJA NIEBIESKIE-CZERWONE-CZARNE (Gravity Blue-Red-Black, 1992), visual actions;
- DANCE MACABRE (3 programmes, 1994-95), grotesque cycle;
- KONIEC – dokumentacja (The End – documentation,1995),one-man show -THE EMBALLAGE THEATRE;
IOTA took part in the
following festivals:
- at home (among others):
Vision and Visual Art Theatre
Encounters, Katowice
FORTALICJE Art Festival, Zamość
Gliwice Theatre Encounters, Gliwice
International Festival of Street
Performance, Jelenia Góra
International Youth Theatre
Festival, Wrocław
ART VIS-A-VIS ART New Art Festival,
Chełm
Przystanek Gołdap (The Gołdap
Station), Gołdap
Przystanek Olecko (The Olecko
Station), Olecko
Holiday Star Festival, Międzyzdroje
- and, abroad:
Culture Spring, Valenciennes, France
MIMO E DINTORINI, Verona, Italy
the MIMOS Festival, Prague, the
Czech Republic, and Bratislava, Slovakia
the FILO Festival, Londrina, Brazil
the MIMOS Festival, Perigueux,
France