Agata Łuksza
'I’m Calling Out to You': On the Choral Theatre of Marta Górnicka
Abstract
The article analyses the work of Marta Górnicka, a young Polish director and creator of so-called choral theatre, and in particular her two productions performed only by women: This Is the Chorus Speaking and Magnificat. This reflection takes place in the context of research on the antique chorus, feminist theatre and the musical turn in contemporary theatre. The analysis concentrates on selected problems and aspects of Górnicka’s work, such as language/body/voice, the choral form, community/exclusion, political intervention, and power. Choral theatre is recognized as a fundamentally anti-systemic and revolutionary theatre in which the excluded regain their voices.
Keywords
body; chorus; feminism; voice
Agata Łuksza
(1983), PhD, a Research Associate at the Institute of Polish Culture of the University of Warsaw, where she completed her PhD in the field of gender, theatre and performance studies (2015). She has published in major Polish journals (e.g. Dialog, Didaskalia, Tematy z Szewskiej) and Feminist Media Studies. Currently working on two team projects: Hypatia: The History of Polish Theatre, Feminist Research Project and Masks in the Culture of Contemporary Europe: Ritual – Carnival – Theatre – Play – Art, and completing a book based on her doctorate, Glamour, Femininity, Performance: The Actress as an Object of Desire. Her research interests include gender, the body and sexuality; the history of late 19th- and early 20th-century theatre, particularly popular genres; popular and American culture, especially in the area of gothic studies; and fan studies.
