“Out of the Darkness” show by Leszek Mądzik, that is a play of lights and fleeting beauty of nature

The play of lights and music, which revealed the fleeting beauty of the Royal Łazienki’s nature, could be watched on Saturday and on Sunday evening in front of the Palace of the Isle during “Out of the Darkness” jubilee shows. The production was set by Leszek Mądzik – a brilliant director and stage designer who, 45 years ago, founded the Fine Arts Stage at the Catholic University of Lublin.

The “Out of the Darkness” shows were specially prepared by Leszek Mądzik for the closing of the Festival of Light taking place from 2 August. The music to this outstanding work was composed by Paweł Odorowicz and the audience watched the performance of actors from Warsaw Mime Centre.

Spectators, who visited the royal residence in great number, could contemplate – as the director said before the show – the space of the main character opening in front of them. It was emphasised by light, which together with the mysterious music and mime play of the actors gradually revealed the nearest surroundings of the Palace on the Isle immersed in the darkness.

In the final of the show, the nature of Łazienki was lit up with a fiery red, which especially appealed to the audience. The idea the director had for this production was stunning – one of the guests in Łazienki said after the Saturday show. It is a demanding contemporary play, the context is important, but personally I was impressed with the sculptures that were brought to live. When I visit Łazienki one more time, even tomorrow, I will see it in a totally different dimension – one of the spectators stated. Moreover – as he found – the effect was strengthened by the unusually bright light of the moon.

Telling about the preparations for “Out of the Darkness” Leszek Mądzik stressed that the play of lights should emphasize and reveal the beauty of nature both on water and on stage. I wish the impressions of the audience stayed here and now, just as emotions associated with one exceptional evening which can’t be later repeated or which will be difficult to evoke. I strive to show the fleeting beauty of both nature and moments – he said in a recent talk with Anna Serdiukow (the interview appeared on Friday in “Gazeta Prawna” daily).

The director said also that the Royal Łazienki was a place which excited his imagination. Space, the mosaic of the garden, the surface of water imply a lot of meanings, they incite emotions, trigger memories, uncover what is hidden inside – the artist told. I was walking around Royal Łazienki for a long time looking for a suitable place. The Palace on the Isle seemed to me a special building. Water has always been present in my performances, and in this case this element was decisive too – the secret and calm of the depth, largeness and not trace quantity of water and the reality that surrounds us seemed to me the best natural setting. This landscape became a partner for what I do – he added.

The title of the “Out of the Darkness” show reaches the essence of the original theatre of Leszek Mądzik.

My productions – starting from “Wilgoć” performance – have all been immersed in the darkness. Darkness is not present with the purpose to hide something; it is often the hero of the show. It arouses interest, it is an initiating factor; a lot can emerge out of the darkness and appear in the darkness. I feel safe in the darkness, I don’t associate it with evil or danger, quite the opposite; I said once that the night was not for me a time for villains. Night allows the miraculous and intimate events to resound through one’s life. I appreciate the fact that I can be part of this imponderable – the director said.

“Out of the Darkness” were jubilee shows – Leszek Mądzik is the founder of the 45-year old Fine Arts Stage of the Catholic University of Lublin. He fell in love with the ‘theatre without words’ already long ago. As he claims himself, the silence in his theatrical performances stems from a deep conviction that there are fields of human reality which can’t be expressed in words.

The “Out of the Darkness” shows were performed at the closing of this year’s Festival of Light.

Leszek Mądzik is the founder of the Fine Arts Stage created 45 years ago, a producer of spectacles and also the author of a dozen of stage designs in theatres of Poland, Portugal, France and Germany. As he claims himself, the silence in his theatre stems from the deep conviction that there are fields of human reality that can’t be expressed in words. Love, faith, sanctity, terror, feeling of finiteness, death – this is with what the space of these spectacles is filled – the director wrote.