| The project Gospels of Childhood |
 The variety of activities within the project Gospels of Childhood shows that the performance itself is not the sole reason for the overall endeavour, although it is its most prominent manifestation. Apart from being concerned with developing the skills of the actors, this work provokes questions of personal development for each participant. Journeying to encounter people and places is, in a sense, also a way of journeying towards oneself. On the other hand, years of practice of liturgical and ritual singing leads to a deeper understanding of other cultures. It is not accidental, therefore, that it is music and work with song that constitute the core of this theatrical work. One of the main impulses to initiate the project Gospels of Childhood was the group’s interest in Gnostic elements present in early Christianity. The performance is composed according to two principal motifs: the story of the resurrection of Lazarus as told by his sisters – Mary and Martha – and the 'testimony of Mary Magdalene', who, according to certain Gnostic traditions, was held in high esteem by the Apostles and was also considered to be one of Lazarus’ sisters. Among the performance’s literary texts, there are elements of the little-known Apocrypha of Mary Magdalene, Philip and Thomas, and also fragments from Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Simone Weil. A comprehensive analysis of the performance was undertaken by Professor Dariusz Kosinski: 'Gospels of Childhood, composed around the histories of Lazarus, Martha and Mary (identified with Mary Magdalene) is – as its very authors say – "an impossible story of Resurrection", that maintains a dramatic, tense opposition between the realm of human experience – full of doubt, rebellion, error and despair – and the contrasting sphere of spirituality, embodied by song, so far beyond comprehension and yet so anxiously craved' (Didaskalia 63, 2004). The subtitle of the performance – 'Fragments on intimations of immortality from recollections of early childhood' – being a paraphrase of the title of William Wordsworth’s ode, suggests viewing the genre of the presentation as that of a fragment, a draft or an essay.During the rehearsals for the performance, the ensemble met Daisuke Yoshimoto, a remarkable butoh dancer. The ensuing collaboration resulted in the presentation Lazarus (performed in Brzezinka and Wroclaw in October 2003, October 2004, and April 2005), in which the actors of Theatre ZAR witnessed and supported – mostly by singing – the dance of Lazarus.  The inspiration for Jaroslaw Fret to initiate this collaborative project had been Hans Holbein’s The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb (1521) – the painting which led Dostoyevsky to suffer an epileptic fit. It was then through butoh that the figure of the brother of Mary and Martha was incorporated into the performance, where it had originally been, and in fact by definition still is, absent. The project Lazarus constituted a complementary aspect to work on the performance.Gospels of Childhood was first presented during the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the Centre for Theatre Practices 'Gardzienice' (October 2002). The premiere took place in Brzezinka in October 2003. Apart from presenting Gospels of Childhood, giving numerous concerts and work demonstrations and leading workshops, the company continues to work on new projects. |