Between Freedom and Manipulation: The Situation of Actors in Factory 2

Abstract

   

The starting point of the text is the thesis, prevalent in theoretical and journalistic texts, touching upon the communal, libertarian and subjective character of working on Factory 2 directed by Krystian Lupa. Kwaśniewska, based on the statements of actors and the playwright, analyses the individual stages of performance preparation, paying attention to the elements of manipulation on the part of the director. In the end, she concludes: 'Lupa [...] seemingly ceded a part of his power to the actors [...] to shift the process of directing them onto an implicit level, decisively limiting their actual agency but highly effective in achieving his intended goal, which became clarified in the work process. If therefore we can speak of ensemble work, it was based on unequal awareness and power and on the unquestionable authority of the director.'