About

Performance dedicated to the memory of Danuta Szaflarska (1915-2017).

“No Matter How Hard We Tried” is one of the most successful performances produced by TR Warszawa, besieged by the audience, praised by the critics and awarded at numerous festivals. The performance is directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna – one of the most recognized Polish directors, and based on the play by Dorota Masłowska, a NIKE Literary Award nominee. It is a humorous and moving portrait of the divided Polish society, weighted down by the traumatic past and torn between national pride and sense of shame. Masłowska, with a crazy, inventive language and razor-sharp humor, paints the picture of today’s Poland, where the nouveau riche, pseudo-artists and media celebrities encounter the disillusioned youth and representatives of the working class on the verge of poverty. All of them try to stay afloat amidst the toxic mix of commercialism, catholic nationalism and idealized tragic past.

In the premiere version of the performance, the part of the Gloomy Old Biddy in a Wheelchair was played by a legendary actress – Danuta Szaflarska from TR Warszawa company, who passed away in 2017. She was one of the oldest, still active theatre actresses, She acted in “No Matter How Hard We Tied” at the age of 101. In the new version of the performance, Danuta Szaflarska was replaced by Lech Łotocki, a renowned actor, who has been cooperating with TR Warszawa since its establishment.

For organized school groups we offer introductory workshops to the performance (please contact the education department: anna.kurelska@trwarszawa.pl for more details).

The performance is coproduced by TR Warszawa and Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz.

Cast

Little Metal Girl

Aleksandra

Popławska

Gloomy Old Biddy in a Wheelchair

Danuta

Szaflarska

Gloomy Old Biddy in a Wheelchair / Radio host

Lech

Łotocki

Halina

Magdalena

Kuta

Bożena

Maria

Maj

Edyta

Roma

Gąsiorowska

Edyta (substitution 11.01-14.01)

Natalia

Kalita

Monika

Justyna

Wasilewska

Director

Adam

Woronowicz

Actor

Rafał

Maćkowiak

Creators

Gallery

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photos: Natalia Kabanow

Reviews

• “Masłowska is extremely gifted at imitating authentic people and their beliefs and she perfectly renders in her play the kind of language spoken by different generations and social environments. In a tenement building in Warsaw, which nearly falls apart, we can see representatives of a cross section of the Polish society that is at the same time picturesque and morbid. The spectrum, exaggerated to no end, represents various layers of the collective decay in a way that makes laughter stay in the back of your throat.”

  Andreas Schäfer, Tagesspiegel

• „Jarzyna has managed to capture the very soul of the play and extract its surrealistic core: he reflects not only the humorous aspect of the drama, but also makes it shine as a tragicomic, reality-deprived farce. Three screens, buzzing music, animated accessories and ironic acting let the production oscillate between joke and seriousness in a beautifully ambiguous way.”

  Dirk Pilz, Berliner Zeitung

• „Coming from the actors’, Masłowska’s text can get the intended meaning. The stage deepens the outlook. This is the key value of Grzegorz Jarzyna’s preview performance. (…) Jarzyna has provided the play with a nearly perfect theatre form.”

  Jacek Wakar, Dziennik

Awards

• The Konrad Swinarski Award

  For the best director of 2008/2009 season granted by the “Teatr” monthly magazine to Grzegorz Jarzyna.

• Main award

  At the 9th Ogólnopolski Festiwal Dramaturgii Współczesnej “Rzeczywistość Przedstawiona” in Zabrze granted to Grzegorz Jarzyna.

• Actors awards

  At the 9th Ogólnopolski Festiwal Dramaturgii Współczesnej “Rzeczywistość Przedstawiona” in Zabrze granted to Aleksandra Popławska for the role of the Little Metal Girl and Danuta Szaflarska for the role of the Gloomy Old Biddy in a Wheelchair.

• Grand Prix (Audience Award)

  At the 9th Ogólnopolski Festiwal Dramaturgii Współczesnej “Rzeczywistość Przedstawiona” in Zabrze.

• The Stanisław Bieniasz Medal

  For the Best Playwright at the 9th Ogólnopolski Festiwal Dramaturgii Współczesnej “Rzeczywistość Przedstawiona” in Zabrze awarded to Dorota Masłowska.

• Grand Prix for the best performance

  At the 2nd International Theatre Festival Divine Comedy, Cracow „for an uninhibited outlook on the contemporary Poland: both ironic and deep. The production that reaches the highest heights in terms of directing, acting, conception, set design and consistent adaptation”.

• Special Mention at the 2nd International Theatre Festival Divine Comedy, Cracow

  for the text to “No Matter How Hard We Tried” by Dorota Masłowska „for a smart uncovering of double and triple meanings in the existing meanings and unexpected solutions at each and every step”.

• The Jacek Woszczerowicz Award

  Granted by ZASP to Danuta Szaflarska and a honorary mention for acting for Aleksandra Popławska at 50th Kalisz Theatre Encounters.

• Collective award

  For the director and the cast for the best contestant performance at 16th National Competition for Staging Contemporary Polish Plays.

• Award for script

  For Dorota Masłowska for her script at 16th National Competition for Staging Contemporary Polish Plays.

• Best actor award

  For Adam Woronowicz at 16th National Competition for Staging Contemporary Polish Plays.

• Grand Prix

  At the 46th Small Forms Theatre Festival „Kontrapunkt” in Szczecin.

Tours

Partners

The performance is coproduced by TR Warszawa and Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz.