Choreographic thinking

10 of February '23

mock-up of the set design for the musical "1989"

...

Agata: Aside from creating a special room for the orchestra, did you face any particular challenge, or were you given specific guidelines as you were working on the musical?

Milena: Of course. We had already had a conversation with Webber and the manager of the theater's acoustic studio at the stage of developing the first ideas. At the outset, I pointed out that I don't like and don't want to use curtains that send out technical balconies, string or stilettos. I think that especially in a play where some of the scenery has an industrial character, visible elements of stage machinery will enrich it. I hope that the lighting director will further illuminate them and bring out their raw character. These curtains, in addition to shading the stage, also have an acoustic function - they muffle sounds, which improves the acoustic quality. And since I wanted to deprive us of the ocotaration, there was a need to build a special box for the band and enclose it in an isolated space.

On stage, as I mentioned, there will be an original wrecked Fiat 126p, where the action will also take place. In it, as well as in the apartments or scaffolding, we plan to set up auditions for the actors who will sing there. Together with the head of the acoustic studio, we are already determining how to make them invisible to the viewer, hiding them behind some kind of armchair, for example.

Visualizations of Milena Czarnik's stage design version "work in progress"....

We are dealing with a musical, so not only the sound is very important, also the floor must be comfortable for actors and dancers. In both theaters, the original floor is planks, which we have to line with ballet floor. Here, I hope its gray shade will break the association with the black classical ballet floor. I had to reconcile the comfort of the performers with aesthetic and sonic qualities. Most songs will be sung in conjunction with movement, hence the need to soundproof the floor. To sum up - at all stages and levels, the project was consulted with regard to acoustic and choreographic requirements.

Agata: Another issue is safety on stage. You talk about scaffolding, a room at a height of 4 meters. Certainly, there was a stage acceptance meeting, where, in addition to the management and technical managers, those responsible for health and safety and fire safety were present. Did you have to face any comments on safety considerations?

Milena: Such a meeting took place and the final design was given a positive opinion. Of course, I realize the seriousness of the situation. There will be almost twenty people on stage, the action will take place on many sets and levels. Safety considerations must come first. All the scaffolding we will install on the stage is the latest models of original construction scaffolding with safety certificates. We can't modify them in any way, because we would lose our warranty and insurance. So they are really very safe. All the structures that will be built at the back of our facade will also be safe, with properly marked entrances and barriers. We also hope to have almost a month of rehearsals in full scenery. We want to give the performers a chance to familiarize themselves with the space in which they will perform, and the choreographer a chance to build multi-level and multi-plane choreographies. We also plan to use mountaineering mechanisms for dancers moving above the audience. The only objection the project met with was the idea of dancers hanging from a harbor crane. We will solve this with a small cheat, suspending the performers pretending to hold onto the crane, on mountaineering mechanisms. The effect, I hope, will be the same, and safety considerations, which are a priority, will be preserved. Actors and dancers will be properly trained in advance. Both the Slovak Theatre and the Shakespeare Theater are permanently cooperating with professional companies dealing with effects using mountaineering equipment, who will watch over safety. The lives and health of the actors and dancers are paramount, so I hope that no element of the scenery will be a concern or problem for them. If there turns out to be one, we will make modifications on an ongoing basis.

...and views of the final version of the stage design

Agata: You mentioned that on stage we will see an apartment decorated in the style of the 1980s. Will you be looking for interior design elements? If so, where? Or will you rather make them in the theater studios?

Milena: In addition to the fixed elements for the individual paintings, moving elements will be going to the front of the stage. As in the apartment, we are trying to keep the atmosphere of the 1980s and use original elements. The furniture and props that will appear on stage are already mostly elaborate and purchased. They are originals from the 70s and 80s, scoured at antique exchanges and websites. We drive around to pick them up, struggling for transportation. Often sellers don't want to ship them, and the items are at the other end of Poland. This is very tedious work. Mine, in terms of searching, and then the theater's technical and supply department in negotiating purchases and shipments. Here a big nod goes to the wonderful technical manager Lukasz Bulas, my right hand on this project, and to Ewa Armatys and Malgosia Grochal, who sometimes fight like lionesses, for example for original walkie-talkies or carpets with a particular design.

In one of the scenes we are using original batons and shields of the Civil Militia. They are already purchased and there was even a choreographic rehearsal with them. The actresses and dancers, when they took them in their hands and felt all the painful history contained in these objects, said that we need to have some kind of ritual of purification from bad energy, to disenchant them a bit. I hope that, in turn, the positive energy of the other objects - couches, chairs, carpets, which have also experienced and seen their own - will be helpful to the actors.

The interior of a communist-era apartment, which is the inspiration for the rooms inside the block of apartments

Photo: Mariusz Cholajda © MOK-GHM Jastrzębie-Zdrój

Agata: Does the project undergo changes in the course of work, from its submission and acceptance to its creation, and even then to its premiere?

Milena: We are still in the production phase, three weeks before the first assembly, when the scenery is not yet on stage. In the case of this project, these large, monumental fixed elements are no longer allowed to change. These are high-budget elements at which the locksmith, carpentry, modeling and upholstery studios are working very hard, and it's yielding great results. I see no reason for them to undergo any change. It's different with "gadgets," as I call them. I am referring to the moving parts, entering and leaving the stage. Here there is a constant demand from the director for new props and furniture to help with the staging, such as a child's pedal car from the 1980s, a cake platter, glasses in baskets or a straw mat. I think that as long as the budget allows us to expand these items, something else will appear during rehearsals. However, they will be rather small things.

Agata: Your adventure with theater began with dance. Does, and if so, how does your choreographic thinking about this performance influence your scenographic thinking?

Milena: It is closely related. Indeed, my adventure with theater began in 1993, although I don't know if I should say that. That's when I started dancing in Leszek Bzdyl's Dada von Bzdülöw troupe in Gdansk, which by design was an off-the-shelf theater. Later it turned into a professional theater, although the notion of professional dance theater in Poland even now, thirty years later, is still strongly unpopular.

Thanks to the fact that it was an off-off theater, we all co-created performances on many levels. Together we came up with costumes, set design. If someone wasn't acting in a given title, he was involved in something else. I very often directed the lights, turned on the music. I received in positive baggage a lot of strictly theatrical skills. As a result, in addition to choreography, I was able to deal with costumes, lights and set design. I always take choreographic issues into account. When it came to the musical, this was crucial. Being already in rehearsals, we found with the director and choreographer that we didn't have enough space in front of the facade of the building. There was a discussion with the technical managers of both stages and the directors, who not very willingly, but nevertheless agreed to extend the stage forward, which took away some of the audience seats. Here, of course, the financial issues of operating the show come into play. However, I decided that it was necessary to expand the proscenium, giving the choreographer the opportunity to act.

The aforementioned scaffolding and apartments are also a consequence of choreographic thinking. Originally we were thinking of only one such space, but I concluded that the appearance of a dancing character every now and then in an additional space on the horizon would allow for a 3D effect. As with the acoustics, I have been in constant contact with the choreographer since the beginning of the work and try to respond to her needs and suggestions on an ongoing basis. Because working in the theater, is first of all a team effort.

Agata: Thank you very much for the interview.