Tom at the Farm

“Gay people learn to lie before they learn to love”. The eponymous protagonist learns that there is much truth to this statement. Tom – a young guy from a big city goes to the homeland of his tragically deceased partner to attend his funeral. This unexpected visit turns into an opportunity to meet the family of his lover – people who had no idea of Tom’s existence. In a world where peace is more important than the truth, and synonyms are a particular type of lie, lines between desire and grief, cruelty and tenderness, truth and fiction are blurred. The funeral and Tom’s extended stay in the country become catalysts for intensely violent events that force the characters of the play to confront their own hypocrisy. A secret from the past will come full circle again and decide on Tom’s fate – like in a Greek tragedy.
 
This play by a Canadian playwright Michel Marc Bouchard, is a meticulously constructed, uncompromising story about pain, love, grief and denial. It has been staged by the most important companies all over the world for many years now and it will now finally premiere in Poland. By taking on this dark, suspenseful gay drama, creators of the production want to draw attention, in a non-interventional and awareness-raising manner, to the hardships faced by non-heteronormative individuals who grow up in the county. At the same time they plan to steer form the image of a gay person as a victim. The spiral of homophobia that fracture families and destroys lives, is a toxic experience, fraught with consequences. It can even turn the last goodbye into a moment of another rejection. If we are not equal in file, can we be equal in death?
 
“Tom at the Farm” directed by Wojtek Rodak is a Polish pre-premiere of a drama titled “Tom à la ferme” by the Canadian playwright Michel Marc Bouchard. Film adaptation of the drama, directed by Xavier Dolan, won the FIPRESCI prize at the 70th Venice International Film Festival.
 
The performance has been produced within the TR Warszawa New Talents Line. Wojtek Rodak is a laureate of TR Debut 2021 prize, awarded by TR Warszawa’s programming team at the 10th Young Directors Forum in Cracow.