POV: you're 12 years old and you're f***ed

A story about Arek, who is constantly haunted by a persistent thought in his head. A thought that accompanies him all the time, even though he is not the most sociable person. It is with him in every situation, even the worst ones. And when you are 12 years old, the worst situations happen every day.

The play addresses the issue of peer violence. Arek is an introverted boy who spends most of his time listening to music. His constant companion (apart from the aforementioned persistent Thought) is a cheap beat machine, and in its sounds Arek finds a safe space.

How to find your place in a world where the rhythm is set by school bullies? Where to escape when the only beat is the one set by the teacher? In our story, the answer is to put on headphones – which is what we suggest you do as well. Immerse yourself in a theatrical silent disco to transport yourself to a world of sounds, both persistent and soothing. Maybe all you need to do is listen hard enough to make dark thoughts a little more bearable?

text, dramaturgy: Mariusz Gołosz
direction: Agata Biziuk
costumes and set design: Łukasz Mleczak
music: Andrzej ‘Webber’ Mikosz
stage movement: Bartosz Dopytalski
assistant director: Wojciech Sandach

cast:
Kacper Kujawa
Wojciech Sandach
Ewa Sobczak
narrator's voice: Michał Lewandowski

"Gołosz treats his youngest audience with complete seriousness: he does not simplify emotions, smooth over conflicts or resort to didactic shortcuts. He steps into the child's vision of the world, where everything is intense, absolute and experienced “for real”. He is able to do this even when writing for teenage audiences. (...) Kacper Kujawa plays Arek (...) not only with his physis, but also with a boyish charm which, when necessary, he is able to bring out, making Arek credible: torn, restless, uncertain, but also determined. He is not a ‘loser’, but a boy who keeps trying. His mother is played by Ewa Sobczak, and Wojciech Sandach embodies a persistent figment of imagination– a thought, a shadow, a fear – that follows Arek step by step. (...) Agata Biziuk proposes the formula of a theatrical silent disco, also with the context in which the performance is to be staged in mind. Headphones, in which music and text are intertwined, on the one hand intensify the stimuli and allow young viewers to completely immerse themselves in the performance, which becomes a familiar, natural environment for them, similar to the digital world; on the other hand, as the director told me, they are meant to isolate young viewers from each other. (...) The performance is moving, and the ending is uplifting, which is characteristic of Gołosz's writing. The author clearly wants young viewers to leave the theatre not only with the feeling that they are ‘f***ed up’, but rather with the thought that even from the biggest mess there is a way out".
Anna Pajęcka, Teatr