The Leszek Mądzik Theatre

Leszek Mądzik

Black and White,

or Darkness and Light as an Element of Dramaturgy

The space in front of the recipient is a sui generis canvas covered with blackness (darkness). Already from the very onset this image, neutral due to its murkiness,  aims at evoking the impression of an intimate encounter between the spectator and the author. Blackness is safe, neutral and does not as yet contain an answer, but in its stead it poses numerous questions. It is both disturbing and curious. We wish to permeate it, and would like to cease being eternal. At the same time, the longer it is omnipresent the more rapidly it sets into motion our imagination. To be born in blackness is much safer, as if one were born at night, so as to see the light of day at dawn. But the latter will not take place immediately. It must be granted its due time, to be filled with the dramaturgy of disclosure (illumination).

My attention is drawn to the phenomenon of blackness (darkness, the night) not only because it carries an element of a mystery, but mainly because it is the first moment for initiating the process of creation.  The more all-embracing it is, the more it prepares us to be ready for the reception of art. This immersion in darkness also offers a feeling of being all alone with the revealed image. It comprises an individual and not a collective presence in theatrical space.

Another essential feature is the lost division between the stage and the audience. A spectator engulfed by darkness believes that he is part of a cosmos into which he has plunged. At that precise moment we lose the limits upon which human sight could rest.

The intention is to produce an impression that we have been excluded from a certain reality and guided into another one  - one which will produce a state different from that with which we arrived for this encounter.

As a rule, the spectacle does not exceed an hour. There is not much time to encompass the participant of the meeting and set free the spectator’s emotions to the greatest possible extent. Blackness facilitates the realization of this task. The process of submerging oneself in blackness not only obliterates the visible presence of the other witnesses of the event, who accompany us, but more rapidly leads them into a trance.

Darkness is an invisible, black, clean page, which we wish to fill with our imagination. It is tempting, although it also unleashes a fear of the unknown. Such a landscape also permits various reactions towards the spectator. Usually, we expect to see and hear that which is in front of us – such is the logic of the classical stage. In this case, images and sounds can appear unexpectedly and from various directions, heights and places.

The language of the theatre, which for the past 37 years I have used to communicate with the spectators, is devoid of words. In their stead, there is a sort of a pre-verbal articulation of emotions, tension, moods and experiences, in whose presence literary anecdote and narration prove to be helpless. This form of the theatre wishes to reach those resources of our nature that can be librated only thanks to the image and sound. Such two elements will make it possible to transcend the limits of logic, and examine our subconscious, that realm where reality is helpless. Our world of emotions is extremely strong, and its visualization constitutes therapy not only for the author but also for his recipient. It is created, after all, in order to discover the witnesses and recipients of its matter already in the very process of creation. More, it is a sui generis therapy which sustains both sides setting off on a joint journey. My wish is that all that which constitutes my premonition would find itself as quickly as possible on the other side, i.e. that of the recipient.

This process is tantamount to painting in front of the spectator - in such space blackness may exist only thanks to lightness (whiteness). As long as black remains undisturbed and acts only thanks to the abstraction of its depth and infinity, then the dramaturgy that fills it assumes the form of the spectator. It is his imagination that plays the role of the director. Nonetheless, there comes a moment when it has to be focused and guided. This black, omnipresent canvas becomes filled with time.  It is the latter that shall be the protagonist of the plot, and shape the spectator’s imagination in a direction envisioned by the director.  The first impulse will be produced by the appearance of light, which shall increasingly strongly create the dramaturgy of tension. Light will provide us with an opportunity to predict the depth in which we find ourselves and the infinity, which creates the optical perspective facing the spectator. The absence of an end, i.e. multiplied distance, opens a new profundity, whose first symptom was blackness.

There is also a feeling of security. After all, there is light at the end of this tunnel, a chance for a way out.  This is the so-called ray of hope, creating the illusion that we are not always in a vacuum of sorts.

This psychic need for light is not immediately recognizable. It serves more in the first phase of the construction of infinity than it symbolises hope. The light is pale and almost invisible. The effect resembles looking down a long duct with a glimmer of light at the end. Subconsciously, such a landscape submerges us in a world of the so-called perspective of death, with a presentiment of being saved. Here, the image will permeate and sustain itself on the states that are part of our emotions, feelings, fears and hopes. These elements seek their form, a visual image.

The infusion of form and contents constitutes the most difficult process of creation. It encounters the greatest number of obstacles, and helplessness reaches its zenith whenever we wish to grasp the archetype of our behaviour. Light and darkness are helpful by putting events into order, filtering them and seeking suitable meanings. Used in an abstract manner, the power of light speaks about the condition of the spirit. All we have to do is to find its intensity and distance; most importantly, light must pass across the object, face and body in such a way as to reveal their sanctity and values. In itself, it remains helpless unless it rests against an “obstacle” that will appear along its path. Importance is attached to the moments when this takes place and the intensity with which light will come into being. We have the impression, therefore, that the objects have a life of their own, and that a shared context speaks about their meaning. The path traversed by light in order to reach its objective (the object, man) is insignificant; it is the target that is relevant. A shaft of light leading from the source to the objective should not be noticeable if it is not important in itself.  This is the reason why the majority of the “props” used at the Visual Theatre of Catholic University, Lublin are integrated with light. Their journey is simultaneously the path of light. The very concept of lighting equipment loses its meaning and the need to be applied in creating the dramaturgy of light. Most illuminations are devised for an unwritten scenario. Each production possesses its own logic for constructing the anatomy of a spectacle by resorting to light.

Space – in this theatre it is a significant outcome of the role played by the gradation of white and black. Light opens up space. More, makes it monumental or minimalizes it. It opens and closes. This process of rendering space closer or more distant sets free the experience of a micro—and macrocosms. It is in such space that man appears most often - a world in which he finds himself, expresses his emotional and spiritual states. As a rule, man is embroiled in the process of departure, the pursuit of assorted themes, and remains within the range of the sacrum, biology, and eroticism. I believe that in the theatre this process could take place due to profound emotional experience, on the very verge of comprehension, and why belief in this power of light (from white to black) assists me in the realisation of those contents. Light also provides an opportunity for building the proportions of one element vis a vis another. The confrontation of two objects on a diametrically different scale enhances the force of the constructed imagery. Unreal spaces, figures, and objects transfer us into another dimension, and the impossibility of perceiving changes in the frames transformed right in front of the our eyes introduces a feeling of unreality.  This is the moment when the question of the essential part played by light comes to the fore. The limit of visibility, or rather the term “on the borderline of visibility”, is that particular element of dramaturgy which builds tension and actively sets into motion the spectator’s imagination in registering particular scenes. The limited light cast on a selected object forces us to interpret and decipher it by resorting to our sensitivity and experiences. Another objective is to attain the impression of the unreal qualities of a given scene, its reception as a dream or reality. We contain a sphere of the images of reality which possess all the traits of a projection. It is here that the transposed images examine our subconscious. As a rule, this is a world of negative, difficult emotions stemming from fear and bad premonitions. They tend to dominate, although the wish to “awaken” in a different world is foreseeable. The images flow, their rhythm of emergence (languid, and as if in slow motion) allows us to harbour the conviction that they drift on water – we shall not get to know their technical transition.

This effect is also attained by light, which shifts together with illuminated space – light moves together with the image depicted in it. The course of wandering light can pursue various directions. It approaches almost the first rows of the spectators and then disappears in infinity, and appears parallel to the audience (to the left and right). The stage also features the world of Nature, which light has deprived of realistic features and which has retained only its essential and archetypical comprehension and premonition. This effect too is produced by light and the gradation of black and white. Earth, peat, stones, leafs, water, down, hemp, sizal, and grain are susceptible to light. Other material presented in this form include wood, mirrors, glass and cloth.

The direction from which light falls onto the presented substances endows them with fuller theatrical expression by drawing forth their textures, colour, motion and glow. Light also makes it possible to emphasise the dynamics of an ostensibly lifeless  substance.

The most frequent element in the majority of the spectacles staged by the Visual Theatre is water. Its motion and the silver hue of the light which it evokes provide it with the ability to build tension. Together with the costume, water makes it possible to render the human body more universal without revealing its nudity, and light on wet fabric grants it the planned effect. Human bodies often drift along in water, with the sheet of water revealing and, simultaneously, concealing them. In a certain sense, the bodies are the product of the water, which makes them alive. Light gliding along the surface of the water blends all the elements seen by the spectator, and integrates then by granting a single dimension of meaning.  It refers to such elements as fabric, sisal, jute or hemp, which appear not merely in the titles of numerous spectacles, e. g. Zielnik (Herbarium), Włókna (Fibres), Kir (Pall), and Całun (Shroud). I admit to their significance in building the anatomy of a spectacle. The process of revealing them by using light steers the spectator’s feelings towards the body and the relations between man and Nature. The structure of Nature is created by the complexity and pattern of fibres. Their development, tangle and moisture seek a parallel with the presence of Nature, an involvement in some sort of a configuration. The outcome assumes the form of the fabric with which we so willingly cover the body, both living and dead. We envelop ourselves in it in order to survive the cold but also to make ourselves permanent in time – the shroud of survival. Paradoxically, sometimes our apparel becomes the only trace that we leave behind, to be subjected to light many years later. 

The naked body – I sought such a form of revealing the body that would render it almost sacral. I wished to deprive the body only of its erogenous character, and make it deserve utmost respect due to its helplessness and humility.

In the sexual act and on a bier the body constitutes the truest communiqué about ourselves, and sets free compassion and awe. It is the very core of numerous spectacles. Nudity becomes abandoned, helpless and almost always solitary on its journey. It permits us to depict best the flow of TIME.

I direct the ray of light onto assorted parts of the human body and contrast it with the texture of the hair. Naked feet on their way to the unknown gain a dimension of hope thanks to the shower of grain which precedes each step. There is no need to undress the human body in order to perceive its beauty. Imagination will travel towards those recesses, which physical touch would destroy and desecrate. Nudity is tantamount to helplessness. I seek such a satiation, so that it would not become unambiguous, literal and shallow.  I construct an interior, a space in which helplessness will become a value, a sign of sanctity. In this meeting with the human body I set free two fundamental processes. One leads to the removal of successive layers, clothes and shells, and to the naked body. This is a process which transpires in time, with corrosion devouring successive strata until total nudity is achieved. Paradoxically, light grows after each disclosure, until we arrive at the colour of the body. This trend also makes it feasible to pass from the abstract form to the legible, sculpted solid of the human body, just as if we were hewing a rough stone or a block of wood to reveal a concrete and unambiguous shape.

The abstract form - frequently undergoes a metamorphosis produced by light. Already at the very onset it possesses the features of its ultimate shape, and changes in front of our eyes. Altered directions of light and its intensity render this process almost unnoticeable.

Select spectacles presented during a special show at the Academy of Fine Arts  Gallery in Warsaw may serve as an illustration and example of the role played by light as the prime substance in the plastic arts theatre. Fragments of spectacles, displayed in the form of installations, comprise a certain whole portraying the previously discussed questions. Such an entity is to be composed of shared and characteristic elements of the scenic space in Zielnik, Wilgoć (Moisture), Pętanie (Binding), Antigone, Wrota, and Całun. These spectacles confirm the view that we are dealing with a single production whose realisations, originating in various years, changed without abandoning their essence, both in form and theme. This presentation is a resultant of shared elements characteristic for the visual language of the theatre. The spectator, observer and participant is guided through a labyrinth of interiors and spaces, each with its own light. We find ourselves in an interior filled with props and objects whose presence possesses all the traits of the spectacle. The accompanying music is integrally connected with the displayed installation. Its presence is of utmost importance – music enlivens the objects and, in a certain way, interprets them. It acts as the bloodstream of that which we see. Its climate and ambiance create an entity in which the spectator should not distinguish between the visual stratum and sound. The music is by, i. a. Z. Konieczny, S. Radwan, and J. A. P. Kaczmarek, with whom I have been co-operating for years. The exposition features photographs of chronologically interpreted spectacles.