NInATEKA

On 18-21 July 2006, Polish Audiovisual Publishers made a recording of the performance of "H." directed by Jan Klata at the Wybrzeże Theatre.

The Gdańsk Shipyard, one of the most mythical and, at the same time, mystical places in Gdańsk. This historical space became the setting for the dramatic Shakespeare-inspired events. The newest performance of the Wybrzeże Theatre takes place in austere, gloomy space of an abandoned gantry room of the Gdańsk Shipyard. Based on Shakespeare's "Hamlet", the performance of "H." is directed by one of the most famous directors of the young generation, Jan Klata, an artist labelled "constructor of human caastrophies". The "H." of Gdańsk is played in the room, which still houses Anna Walentynowicz's gauntry. The architecture of the place is unusual. Two aisles and the nave turn the place into a unique monumental sacral-industrial structure, where spirits of the past hover with a vague spectre of the future.

It is an ideal place to tell the story of Hamlet, says Jan Klata, and teases that after all, Hamlet was a Pole. The titular hero enters the stage armed with a golf club. Following the ball hit by Hamlet, the spectators reach subsequent corners and recesses of the shipyard, which are as murky as the inner world of the inhabitants of Elsinor. The performance, which is played on a number of levels of the gantry room, does not lack momentum and impressive scenes: a horse-mounted rider, drowning of Ophelia in a Motława canal, surprising costumes, symbolism of colours and mysterious props: a globe-shaped alcohol trolley (ironical reference to the Globe Theatre), a fencing mat and masks, or the turbo-golfer gear... "I want to clash characters and attitudes to life in such a way as to make it painful and impressive," says Jan Klata. "Something must be going on, exploding, erupting." However, the impressive effects are followed by a well thought-out, consistent reading of Shakespeare's story, which Klata rewrites into tragedies of individual protagonists. What is most important, protagonists who are not clearly specified and ambiguous.

"It is worth seeing. Particularly, dear reader, if you should doubt whether the story of the Danish prince, which has been played-out a thousand times, can still be read anew, or surprise the spectator in any way. Jan Klata, the director of the Gdańsk spectacle of "H.", gives us hope it is still possible." Katarzyna Fryc, "Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto"