JUST BESIDE – 2023

(POLAND OF THEIR DREAMS)

a performance by Marcelino Valiente

The foreigner is always perceived as “entering” – as someone who has come to occupy “our” space. We politicize his presence by choosing and imposing them our own social rules. In this work, six Polish citizens living in Norway tell Norwegian audiences about Poland, and why they choose to move away from their own country.

This on-stage project uses the device of confidential discussions to establish a tone of intimacy and invite reflection on the relationship we have with strangers – the invisible people, the others. Who are these people? Essentially, they are citizens of Eastern Europe who have come to Norway to change their lives – but on whose terms? While a significant number of Polish immigrants move to Norway to improve their standard of living, others have arrived because they mistrust their government and wish to campaign for social justice and human rights in their homeland. Some are nostalgic for their country, while others experience displacement differently: they now feel there is no welcome waiting for them in the place from which they have travelled.

PREMIERE 20th OCTOBER 2023

and 21st and 22nd October 

19.00 pm

VEGA SCENE – OSLO

DIRECTION/TEXT/VIDEO : Marcelino valiente 
PERFORMERS : Aleksandra Drozd, Piotr Gomula, Angelika Lisowska, Karol Matuszak, Johanna Olichwer, Agnieszka Stasiak, Jon Werede Hope
SCENOGRAPHY : Petros Lappas and Marcelino Valiente
MUSIC : Jon Werede Hope
COSTUMES : Zaneta Kruszelnicka
LIGHT DESIGN : Sebastian Schmiedl
PRODUCTION MANAGERS : Gunhild Bjørsgaard and Patrycja Wróbel
CASTING SUPPORT : Zaneta Kruszelnicka
PRODUCTION : Company B. Valiente and Teatr Polski In Wroclaw
SUPPORTED BY: National Theatre in Wrocław & EEA Grants