Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Teatr Polski In Wroclaw

We all need more green in our lives, don't we?

Good old Shakespeare is back and with Magdalena Piekorz's version looks great and continues to impress and make us laugh.

There are four names thanks to which you will turn 2.5 hours of your life into beautiful experiences full of colors and artistic emotions: Bulawa, Sliwinska, Giel, and Piejas. They are like colorful diamonds in a gold crown.

It all starts very neutrally but once they launch the rocket it goes higher and higher. I must admit that in the beginning, the characters seem to blend without any particular purpose, and apart from the great costumes (by Lidia Kanclerz), you think it's going to be long and kind of boring. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Once we see the dynamics of a troupe of awkward actors, the real fun begins. They have a strong comedic vibe, especially Nick Botton (Jakub Giel) who is amazingly convincing as a donkey and has great charisma. Laughing in their scenes is like a snowball. They juggle between absurd, comic, and wacky with great precision. After laughing, we dive into wizardry with a group of elves and the retinue of Titania. Magdalena Rozanska is full of grace with the elegance of a blooming flower. Her companions are full of energy and the magical charm of wild secrecy. A proud Oberon (Igor Kowalik) and his servant Puck (Bartosz Bulawa) are also present. The second one is like a tornado, his movement is out of this world; he makes his body a major asset to his character, and the way he speaks, he reacts in every scene just gets better and better. I know it's not the first time I've said that about this actor but I'm a huge fan! He is vital, unruly, boisterous, and intractable. At the same time, it is full of wild and unpredictable charm. Bravo!

Then we enter a love rectangle with Hermia (Anna Haba), Lysander (Maciej Gisman), Demetrius (Blazej Michalski), and Helena (Beata Sliwinska). The last one is particularly amazing. Her passion for love and her spontaneous and exaggerated reactions bring a lightness to the scenes and a comic echo that resonates with force on stage. She is phenomenal.

In addition to the actors, the scenography plays its part. It's amazingly created by Katarzyna Sobanska and Marcel Slawinski, so the audience witnesses very deeply what happens on stage. The atmosphere of the magic forest is full of surprises and secrets brought to life by the power of nature - strong, irreconcilable and breathtaking. It's like coming home. It's theater creating a magical space where you feel invited and comfortable. Out of this (realistic) world.

The icing on the cake is the brilliant Marcin Piejas who makes his few end lines feel really intense. Truly funny in a second and devastated, heartbreaking, crying over lost love right after gave me chills. There are no small roles, only small actors, and Piejas is certainly not one of them.

The play is magical, not only because it takes place in a magical place, but because the atmosphere created on the stage draws you in like quicksand - calm and gentle, and suddenly you realize that you have lost your concept of time and space. Was it just a dream?

Photo: Mikolaj Plywacz

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