She was a friend of someone else
Gosia Wdowik
“I think that’s the experience that changes you. When you feel that there is a big wave of other woman yelling with you, and protesting, and fighting for their rights.” – Gosia Wdowik, Kaserne Basel
What happens when the same fight has to be fought over and over again? In “She was a friend of someone else”, Gosia Wdowik documents the fight for the right to abortion in Poland, which was almost completely abolished in October 2020. Based on an issue of the German magazine “stern” from 1971, in which 300 women reported on their abortions, the film tells the story of activists who want to repeat this action in the Polish context. On their way, they encounter resistance and suffer numerous setbacks – is quitting an option? Accompanied by the voice of an exhausted narrator, the performance shows some of these women. Gosia Wdowik herself lies silently on a mattress on the floor. Her countless deployments have burnt her out.
The evening explores the connection between activism and burnout and tells a story of highs and lows in the fight for the right to female self-determination in a chorus of women’s voices, interview videos and Telegram chats. A story that has too many beginnings and too few endings.
Duration: ca. 1 h
Language: English with german surtitles and Polish with german and english surtitles
Please do not film or take photos during the performance
06.12. there will be an audience discussion following the performance
If you attend this event and “New Report on Giving Birth“, you will receive a 50 percent discount on “She was a friend of someone else”. Only bookable via the Visitor Center via E-mail: ticket@hellerau.org or phone: +49 351 264 62 46
Trigger Warning
Stroboscopic light effects and a fog machine will be used for considerable periods of time during the event. This can lead to physical discomfort in sensitive persons.
Gosia Wdowik is a theater maker and president of the Association of Polish Theater Directors. She studied theater directing in Warsaw and at DAS Theatre in Amsterdam. With her plays “Fear”, “Anger” and “Shame”, Wdowik developed a trilogy about the representation of emotions on stage at various theaters in Warsaw. She is currently investigating the space between exhaustion and agency from a feminist perspective. Together with the K.A.U kollective, she created performances for the SpielArt Festival in Munich, the Staatstheater Darmstadt and the Sophiensaele in Berlin and was also seen with a new directorial work in the last season at the Theater am Neumarkt Zurich.
Concept, Text and Direction: Gosia Wdowik
Collaboration in Dramaturgy: Maria Rössler
Visuals and Creative Technology: Jimmy Grimma
Set design: Dominika Olszowy, Tomasz Mróz
Light design: Aleksandr Prowaliński
Performance: Oneka von Schrader, Gosia Wdowik, Jaśmina Polak
Worked with/by: Agnieszka, Dominika, Jaśmina, Ania, Urszula, Marta K., Justyna, Natalia, Julia, Martyna, Ola, Małga, Krystyna, Marta, Zosia, Edka, Doris, Yulia, Agata, Kinga, Beata, Iza, Zuza, Ewa, Magda
Special thans to: Jan Tomza-Osiecki, Marta Jalowska, Dorota Glac, Kamila Worobiej, Martyna Wawrzyniak, Marta Nawrot, Keerthi Basavarajaiah and Justin Schembri
Production: NOWY TEATR & CAMPO
Co-production: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Teatro Municipal do Porto, SPRING Performing Arts Festival, Frascati Producties, HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste, SPIELART Theaterfestival, Dublin Theatre Festival, Beursschouwburg, Points communs – Nouvelle Scène nationale de Cergy-Pontoise/Val d’Oise
