Transitions Central Europe: Magnificat

POLAND

In "Magnificat", the Polish director Marta Górnicka uses contemporary versions of the ancient tragic Chorus. Working with different social groups, she combines the dynamic of the collective -in voice and body- with a contemporary critique of language as a hegemonic tool. "Magnificat" -the second part of a trilogy- breaks new ground with a Women’s Chorus that subverts classical illustrations of femininity.

The figure of the Virgin Mary forms a central axis of the production as Christianity’s sacred image of femininity representing love, strength, devotion and knowledge. A women’s choir appears on stage and uses hymns, yells, whispers, rhythmic speech and church sounds. In parallel, passages from Euripides’ "The Bacchae" and from the Gospels, along with texts by the Nobel prize-winning author, Elfriede Jelinek, and Poland’s national poet, Adam Mickiewicz, are combined with references to contemporary pop culture and to recipes. The result: a unique auditory and ideological landscape for Women’s nature and the stereotypes that define it. Together, the notes of "Magnificat" form a political manifesto, while the Virgin Mary descends from holy icons onto the theater stage.

The women’s Chorus as a contemporary form of theatre is a concept we owe to Marta Górnicka. It renegotiates the role of the Chorus as we know it from ancient tragedy in order to create a post-modern spectacle which seeks to “reclaim the female voice” by combining the power of the collective voice and the collective body with a contemporary critique of discourse as a hegemonic tool. The Chorus consists of 25 women of different ages and social backgrounds.