The disrupted process of stage development of Heksy / Hexes – Agnieszka Szpila’s novel nominated for the Nike Literary Prize, with publication rights acquired in Lithuania, Brazil, France, Croatia, and the US – to be directed by Monika Strzępka at Warsaw’s Dramatyczny Theatre did make a strong mark on the stage fate of the play. Yet the cancellation of its premiere in the aura of a scandal at Warsaw’s Dramatyczny Theatre put no end to the novel’s theatrical journey. Szpila, now a dramaturg, moved the developed material to Wrocław, where – directed by Monika Pęcikiewicz – the troupe of the Teatr Polski w Podziemiu (The Polish Theatre in the Underground) eventually produced one of the most anticipated literary adaptations this year.

The stage version of Hexes is both a feminist manifesto and a story of a metamorphosis: not only of its protagonist, but of social reality in its entirety. Anna Szajbel, dazzlingly portrayed by Anna Ilczuk, evolves from a ruthless CEO of a fuel corporation exploiting natural resources into a practicing ecofeminist drawing strength and wisdom from her bond with nature and her female ancestors – though such distinctions are, in fact, merely symbolic. Working with set and costume designers Karolina Benoit and Grzegorz Więckowski, visual artists Sebastian Pańczyk and Bartłomiej Szlachcic, lighting designer Wojciech Puś and composer Stefan Węglowski, Pęcikiewicz has created a world of exceptional visual value. The stage literally pulses with images in which bodies, plants, and soil merge into a unity transcending gender, species, and culture differences.

It is worth noting that it is another production by the Polish Theatre in the Underground: a one and only initiative in contemporary Polish theatre, born in 2017, when the company, systematically undermined and wrecked by the authorities, incorporated their own independent institution, which has continued to produce performances ever since.

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The performance features strobe lighting. Only for mature viewers: may offend religious feelings; contains sexual content, scenes of violence, and explicit language.
In the third act of the performance, the experimental film by Wojciech Puś and Stefan Węgłowski entitled "nécessité" (2024) is used as lighting.

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Photo by Natalia Kabanow