ets of information-reriews. descriptions. scripts. \\"e \rere encouraged to look at the renorations under \ray. They are modest. but impressire in their commitment. Remaking the \\"Orld in harmony \rith nalllre. in microcosm. \e\t. \re \rere led to a differem room in the large bUilding. for the second performance. This room had once been a chapel. It is a larger and taller room. \rith benches all facing the playing area. though the organ and singers \rere placed in the aisle of the audience section. A rough-he\m stage at one end \rith l\\"O huge \\"Ooden \rardrobes \ras the apparent selling. and a tall platform up center \rhich permitted one actor to sit on high. Again. only candles lit the room. though l\\"O 10\1'lerel fresnels \rere used later to proride threshold illumination..-\gain. the companr \ras singing as \re entered and \rere led to our seat. and Candles stuck into loaves of bread provided illumination for Carmina Burana_ again the performance \ras mostlr sung. This performance \ras a glorious fusion of the Tristan and Isolde storr \rith the mylh of ~Ierlin and the 13th cenlllrr lore songs \rhich gare the performance its title. Carli/ilia Slimlla_ These were forged together through the sensibilit\' of this nearlr Urainian culture and this unique theatrical form. CosllImes raguelr suggested a mediera] period. bllt \rith no attempt at historicity. Props \rere minimal. rerr plain found objects. and. at one moment ther brought an actual horse through a door and led it abollt the small playing space. I can't ar \rhich of the [\1'0 shon plays \ras the finer. and I found the style of performance quite similar, eren though they were created over a decade apart. Staniewski's manner of creation and strle of theatricality are very bold and recognizable. From the printed materials the company gare us. I hare learned that their working method includes their making "E\peditions" in which the\' trarelto remote regions of southeastern Poland Candto Lithuania. Ireland. and southwestern .-\merica) for the purpose of discorering traditional songs. dances. and folk-tales \\-hich e\pre s an indigenous culture. Ther relllrn to Gardzienice and integrate these folk traditions into their rehearsal process \rhich builds upon an e\tremelr rigorous physical and rocal training. Ther begin \rith song. sung choraLir and later indiriduallr. and ther improrise phrsicalmorements from the impulses the music inspires in their highly sensitized and athletic bodies. the instrument. of their creatiril\·. These folk traditions are shaped br Stanie\rski \\ho is often influenced by medieral imagery. eastern European icons as \rell as the paintings of Breughel and Bosch. He creates the performance space as he molds the performances. and that is \rhr he is Ii ted as scenographer as \rell as director_ (Later in lhe erening. he asked us. rhetorically. ho\r it \ras possible to be a designer \rithout being a director_ .-\ \ronhr question.) Stanie\rski beLieres the actors' primal energy transcends national. cultural, and hUlguage barriers to create "an alchemr of the languages of the body, sound and breath, with the languages of the head and heart." He \rants his performances to break through the limits of human habits and to find the secret \rhich is ..the nalllre of the human being." He \rants to renture on ..the search for the links bel\reen high and 10\1' culwre. Once you find this. you hare the means of common understanding." It·s a lofty philosophical goal. and it takes a driren anist of Stanie\rski's kind to even name it. let alone dedicate a life to creating a new form of theatre which \rill help us to reach it. After this second performance, it \ras approaching midnight, and \re were invited to \rhat I can only call the sacred grore \rhere benches had been placed under the lindens. surrounding a fire in the center. We drank \rine and Listened to the silence. and Sranie\\"Ski gm'e a shon description of the company's history. on-gOing \\-ork. and his beliefs. ~Iostlr these remarks \rere artistic and philosophical. but of necessity they touched on the political realities of the changing life of Poland. Our Polish tour guide \ras sitting ne\t to an instructor from the theatre academy \re had \-isited earlier in Warsmr. and they \rere beside themselres in an effon to be Silent, though thev clearly abhorred \rhat he \ras saying_ Ther are among the manv. I later understood. for \rhom the old regime provided a better life. Our guide, for instance, \ras trained as a civil engineer. and has turned to tour gUiding in the changed economic \rorld she d\rells in ... and she's not too pleased about it! Yet I sensed they greatII' admired Stanie\rski's work. It's just his politics they disapprored. As the erening neared its ending. \re were sho\\"I1 a home morie of the company's first arri\'al into Gardzienice. eighteen years earlier. Seeing this film in the clear night air \ras eerie in its own \ray. but it rerealed the depth of their commitment to \rhat Gardzienice is doing. And through their "doing" they reveal their convictions about the cultural roots of theatre an and its potential for making a healthr societr. Linda and I were truly mored by the evening. I felt myself s\rept :t\rar by the passion of lhe performers. the em'ironment in \rhich they \\"Orked and plared. and the faces of the local farmers \\-ho joined \rith the acting troupe to make Gardzienice a garden of theatrical delights. Yours for theatre \\"Orth the doing. Tom Tom Markus is Dmll/allllg alld a Nesirlellt Directorfor tbe Piolleer Tbeatre COIi//Jall}' ill Salt lake Cil)'. 10&1 \ I I I 'J .) 55