date: 15 June 2021, 18:00 and 21:00
tickets: 1 zloty, streaming (live, at 21:00): 5 zlotys
smoke
text: Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk, direction: Robert Traczyk, set design: Marta Czujowska, music: Dawid Dorożyński
cast: Mateusz Brodowski, Patrycja Bukowczan, Joanna Małaszkiewicz, Michał Rybak
producer: Joanna Zabuska
The history of the RAF – a leftist terrorist organization, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group. The performance faces the romantic myth of a revolutionary.
RAF, just as Ernesto Che Guevara, has permanently merged with the world pop culture. You can see on t-shirts a photo of dead Andreas Baader lying in a pool of blood after his suicide death. Photography is styled after the Andy Warhol works.
The RAF star is printed on cups, hats and backpacks. Revolutionaries have become a symbol of pop culture.
Although the group’s actions did not bring tangible political effects, you can say that, like the legend of Robin Hood, RAF fills a certain cultural niche. It responds to the need for a defender who takes away from the rich and gives to the poor. The figure of a noble villain has always had impact on mass imagination.
It is interesting though – only a decade after popular youth magazines printed photo sessions styled after RAF members, the same function is taken over by right-wing and nationalist groups now. They adorn T-shirts, mugs and socks today.
Why is the revolutionary myth so fascinating?
Why do we have a special sentiment for those who die tragically?
Why do the methods of individual terror appeal to their potential victims?
Is it worth dying for?
The performance is a punk-opera with actors and puppets, embedded in post-industrial aesthetics. The show is complemented with texts of the legendary punk band Post-Regiment performed live.
photo Alan Wojtasik
