"Flame"

"Flame" is a musical show, based on the operatic aesthetic and informed by the poetical reflections of Eugen Gomringer. The inspiration behind the creation of this show came from a sculpture by Kazimierz Rafalik, which I received some time ago from the artist himself.
I gave the sculpture my own title - "Flame" - since it was associations with precisely this element that the work evoked, and still evokes within me. When looking at this sculpture, one can get the impression that it emanates an enormous force and energy, some extraordinary power and potency. Perhaps because it was cast from bronze, which gives it a dark brown-golden hue, or perhaps because of its oval form, with the tip pointing upwards...
Flame, synonym of fire, kindles powerful emotions in man. The sight of it inspires rapture, wonder, fear. When we see the colour of the flame, we feel its energy; and yet it escapes our grasp, is difficult to tame. Each of the elements - fire, water, earth and air - is an element in the creation of the material world, the forces of nature, which consciousness cannot control. They are forced to live in harmony, although their nature is opposition.
They are spontaneous, apt to impulsiveness. Like a person full of enthusiasm. At times they lie dormant, only to suddenly remind the world they are there, destroying the peace of the universe - if only for a moment - before returning to a state of quiet existence. They co-exist with man, evoking sensations, arousing sensations, awaking reflection and dictating our actions. The universe and man form a definite system. Is it possible that a fault could appear in this system? When? At what given moment? On what does this depend?

there is no fault in the system
there is no fault in the system
there is no afult in the system
there is no lafut in the system
there is no lafut in the tysmes
there is no afult in the mystes
there is no afult in the mestys
there is no afult in the system
there is no fault in the system

(Eugen Gomringer, trans. from the German by Leon Szwed & Elżbieta Arsso-Cwalińska, from the Polish by John Comber)

"Flame" - the latest production in the repertoire prepared by the Experimental Operatic Theatre of Elżbieta Arsso-Cwalińska. The show's premiere, to mark International Theatre Day, will be on 25th March 2000 at 19:00 in the Zamek Cultural Centre, Poznań, which is co-organiser of the premiere evening.
The Theatre is planning to present "Flame" at Poznań's International Theatre Festival "Malta". Also to appear this season on the Theatre's programme are "Opowieści mola z szafy" ("Tales of a Clothes Moth") and "La vie intime de Cendrillon" ("The Secret Life of Cinderella"), the premieres of which also took place in Poznań at the "Malta" International Festival in 1997 and 1998 respectively. "La vie intime de Cendrillon" will be performed as soon as 24th February 2000 at 19:00 in the Municipal Library of Poznań / Luboń on ul. Żabikowska 42, whilst towards the end of April, Elżbieta Arsso-Cwalińska offers to the Poznań public the show "Opowieści mola z szafy" in the Zamek Cultural Centre in Poznań. red.