In Search of Their Own Path

On 16 and 17 June, pre-DP1 and pre-DP2 classes presented in Solec four theatrical performances entitled The Cost of the Grade, The Empty Shell, The Commission and Dariusz. The scripts were written by the students, who then performed them on the stage of the 2 SLO  theatre with the professional support of Karolina Kowalczyk.

The Cost of the Grade is a pessimistic story about the fear of failure, about an attempt to cheat – to falsify a grade, about the fear of failing the material, about the adults’ helplessness.  Ultimately, the student is sent to a specialist and fails the test yet again.

The Empty Shell is a story about the pressure exerted on students by adults, about parents’ dreams of their children getting into prestigious universities, about the compulsion to strive for better results at all costs, and about the children’s  anxiety who cannot hear themselves, who, in the race for higher grades, find no space for close, supportive peer relationships.

The Commission tells the story of a school fight, the cause and course of which a team of adults tries to determine. The cool, professional pedagogical teachers’ eye  collides with the strongly lived students’ emotions. The initially contrived concept of the course of events crumbles with the number of conversations held, which eventually result in the disclosure of the authentic incidents.

Dariusz is the story of a community of students who function in emotional turmoil on a daily basis. They find it difficult to cope with problems at school, with peer relationships, and they relieve strong tensions at parties. The eponymous Dariusz becomes the proverbial scapegoat on whom all the blame can be laid.

The author-actors engaged fully in their parts. The audience turned up in large numbers. Congratulations to Karolina Kowalczyk and the students for their work!

(text: Beata Ciacek, translated by Beata Ciacek  with DeepL.com; photos: Beata Ciacek)