Performance “Chreja” | Poland
Creator: Anna Maszewska
Direction, text: Paweł Głowaty, Anna Maszewska
Music, sound design: Wojtek Kurek
Stage design: Weronika Gabryiel
Costumes: Mateusz Maria
Lighting: Tomasz Krukowski
Sound: Marcin Dobijański
Cast: Anna Maszewska
Producer: Anna Maszewska
Premiere: October 5-6, 2024
An excerpt from the book “How to cry in public places” by Emilia Dluzewska, “Znak” Publishing House, is used in the performance.
An excerpt from the song “Dancin' Fool” by Frank Zappa is used in the performance. The licence for the use of the song was granted by the ZAiKS Authors Association.
The performance was created as part of the Artistic Scholarship of the Department of Culture of the City of Łódź.
Date: August 27, 2025 | Wednesday
Time: 7 pm
Place: Stage, Art Factory in Łódź, 3 Tymienieckiego Street
Tickets: 40 PLN - early bird / 50 PLN - reduced / 70 PLN - regular
Ticket sales: kicket.com portal / online payment
Early bird tickets: on sale until July 13, 2025
Regular and reduced tickets: on sale from July 14, 2025
Duration: 60 minutes
Age Restrictions: 14+
Language: Polish
Content Warning: sharp and loud sounds of high intensity are used in the performance
After the performance, around 8:30 pm, we invite the viewers to a meeting and discussion with the artists.
The discussion will take place in the Foyer of the Art Factory in Łódź.
The discussion will be led by Tomasz Domagała.
The discussion will be held in Polish.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PERFORMANCE
“Chreja*” is a story of the struggles of a character who receives a diagnosis of a mental disorder falling within the spectrum of neurodiversity - a concept that assumes that there is a natural diversity in the functioning of the human brain and the neurobiological basis of the human mind. The performance evokes everyday life full of absurdity and grotesqueness in which a neurodiverseperson must learn how to find herself. Thus asking the question: where does the joke end and the real drama begin?
“Chreja” is a story of a woman with ADHD, dyslexia and a highly sensitive personality. The performance aims to show the multidimensionality of an atypical mind, which in the mundane everyday life constantly clashes with the rules and patterns of the outside world, and is masking, but also using out-of-the-box thinking and creating innovative ways of solving problems.
“Chreja” is an attempt to break the taboos, a story about the multifaceted nature of information processing, the differences in emotional reactions and the simultaneously problematic and brilliant aspects of neurodiverse people.
* Chreja - in ancient literature, they are a collection of humorous sayings of famous people and anecdotes about them, with a didactic purpose.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Anna Maszewska - actress, theatre and film producer, and educator. Graduate of Cultural Studies with a specialization in Film Studies from the University of Łódź, as well as a graduate of the Department of Film Art Organization at the National Film School in Łódź. Has experience in voice acting and on-camera work. Since 2011 she has been actively involved in independent and off-theatre productions. From 2011 to 2015, she was an actress at the ab'Teatr group and also the leader of the ab'Teatr workshop group. From 2015 to 2017 she led and performed in the Polish edition of the international project “TAKE OVER: Seeing Young Audiences through Young People’s Eyes”, organized by CHOREA Theatre. Since 2018, she has been a member of the CHOREA Theatre group. She performs in the following CHOREA Theatre productions: “The Tragedy of John” (dir. Waldemar Raźniak, 2018), video-performance “Locked in the Tower” (dir. Julia Jakubowska, 2020), “Princesses” (dir. Julia Jakubowska, 2020), “Good Morning Pinky Mouse!” (dir. Ola Shaya, 2021), “Death on a Pear Tree” (dir. Łukasz Kos, 2021), “Ragnarok” (dir. Adrian Bartczak, 2022), “What’s Demeter?” (dir. Tomasz Rodowicz and CHOREA Theatre group, 2024). She is the co-leader of the Youth Theatre Group at CHOREA, and the co-director of the performance “I’ll Eat Your Jam” (2023), created by the group. An instructor of acting and personal development workshops for children, youth, and students. She collaborates with the Musical Theatre in Łódź on educational initiatives. She is also the co-leader of the Oldest Children’s Theatre Group at CHOREA. In 2024, she was awarded with the artistic scholarship from the City of Łódź, with which she created the monodrama "Chreja" - a performance about neurodiversity. She is a co-founder of the production company One3 Studio.
Paweł Głowaty - actor, graduate of the Leon Schiller National Film School in Łódź at the Acting Department. Prior to his studies, he had been associated with a dance theatre. He had taken part in the performances of the Narvas Theatre by Artur Stelmaczonek such as, “Nijaki, męski, żeński” (“Neuter, Masculine, Feminine”) and “Porywacze ciał” (“Body snatchers”), among others. He cooperated with students and graduates of the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków at the Department of Dance Theatre. He took part in a movement miniature directed by Wojciech Chowaniec and choreographed by Jan Lorys, as well as in the performance “It’s all about bravery” choreographed by Katarzyna Baran, which was produced in cooperation with the Movytz Dance Theatre and Skin the cat. Głowaty also directed his own pieces, such as “Sen Małego Króla, który nigdy nie był Księciem” (“The Dream of a Little King who was never a Prince”) based on “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, which won the Entree Competition organised by the Rozrywka Theatre in Chorzów. There, as a part of his residency, he directed the play “Pałac lodowy” (“The Ice Palace”) based on the Terjei Vesaas’s poetic tale with same title. During the time of his studies he also cooperated with Marcin Brzozowski and fellow students on the play “Technika punktu świetlnego” (“The point of light technique”) based on the works by Philip Dimitri Galas. The performance was a success at the Moldavian and Romanian Festivals. Głowaty collaborates with CHOREA Theater and has been engaged in the “Tragedy of John” production directed by Waldemar Raźniak. The performance is the prize winner of the Polish Theatre 2019 repertoire, as well as the 2018/19 Golden Mask winner. He is associated with National Theatre in Warsaw. In 2022 he directed the performance “Me, Feuerbach”, based on a drama by Tankred Dorst, as part of the Przestrzenie Sztuki Project. In 2024, he co-directed the performance about neurodiversity, “Chreja”.
Wojtek Kurek - improviser, percussionist, producer, author of sound installations and music for theatre. He is active in the fields of folk, experimental and electroacoustic music. He programmes his own instruments and effects, with which he processes the acoustic sounds. He has released more than 30 albums, which have been released in Poland, the USA, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal and Scotland. He performs, among others, with the avant-folk trio Tuleje, the duo MEŁECH / KUREK, the quartet Chryste Panie and with Paweł Doskocz. He is the unofficial world record holder in the category of “solo tour of a Polish resident” - 23 concerts in 25 days. Author of a cyclical programme on Radio Kapitał.
