WILD FROLICS

Description

What tricks can the imagination play when a father invites his son to co-create a play?

Don’t chew with your mouth open.
Don’t talk with your mouth full.
Sit up straight.
Don’t eat chocolate before dinner!
Turn off that show.
Turn off your phone.
Don’t play so much.
Wash your hands.
Don’t make faces!
Wash your hands.

What’s allowed, and what’s not? Is it okay to fool around all day, eating sweet popcorn and playing games? The list of rules in everyday life is long, but in the theater, thanks to magic, a bit of craziness is allowed! In the play Wild Frolics, the conversations between a father and son about the boundaries between rules and carefree frolics became the starting point for a shared game of theater.

What can happen if a dad and son join forces and create a play together? Wild Frolics is a series of games and activities that turn the theater into a space for freedom from everyday rules. The creators play with situations familiar to anyone who has raised or been raised. The play questions when rules and prohibitions are necessary and shows how to take play seriously. Behind the world of scattered socks, unwashed hands, and wild frolics, is there perhaps a whole different method to the madness? The creators will examine this with humor and care.

“Wild Frolics” came from conversations with my son Jędrek (age 8), says the play’s director. I wanted him to discover the magic of theater as a place of fun, openness, and beauty. And through Jędrek, I also tried to understand how to change my theater so that it speaks to children. At first, I asked embarrassingly obvious questions like, “Would kids enjoy this?”, to which the sensible response was, “How should I know what all kids like?”

I sought joyful ideas. I wanted to be brave and entertaining, but as a responsible parent, I also had my reservations.

How do you balance the desire for frolics with raising kids, self-control, and setting limits?

This is a play about how joy and playfulness are values in and of themselves, sometimes more important than rules. And of course, it’s also a play about the magic of theater!

Show in Polish with English translation.

Cast

Creators