“Seasons” transport the audience to the world of theatre. The audience has the opportunity to observe both the action taking place on the stage and the private relationships and struggles of the artists behind the scenes. The main characters are a married couple of actors, Ola (Agnieszka Dulęba-Kasza) and Marcin (Lukasz Simlat), which slowly begins to fall apart. The story focuses on their emotional struggles and shows how their feelings affect their professional lives and the functioning of the entire theater community.
In a conversation with Artur Zaborski during the 49th Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia, the film’s director, Michal Grzybowskispoke more about why he decided to tell such a story.
“I have spent most of my life in the theatre and have had a lot of time to observe what goes on there. It was drawing from my own life and also from the lives of my colleagues.. Somehow I naturally wanted to make a film about theater and actors,” he admitted during an interview.
“We were looking for a universal story. (…) We decided that the story of the relationship between actors in the theater and the problems could be interesting to tell in this environment,” he added.
An important part of the plot are the theatrical performances performed by the characters. The actors perform in “Peter Pan”, “A Doll’s House” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. The director revealed that the choice of plays was not accidental. Each of them fulfilled a specific function and suited specific stages of the actors’ lives.
“We spent some time choosing these titles. First, we created a story about the relationship between these characters. (…) Then we looked for plays that would refer to their story, but also to the nature of the characters.”
Agnieszka Dulęba-Kaszawho plays one of the main characters, told us more about creating her character. Although it was a bit of a challenge, because in this one production she had to play several roles, a well-written script and a director who knew perfectly how to direct the actors were of great help.
“It was very well written. Of course there was a certain amount of improvisation, but there was no total freedom. I am very glad that these were actually 3 different charactersThat you could have a little fun with it and show the different shades you have in yourself. (…) It was a bit like in the theatre; the theatre gives challenges and in this film there were also specific challenges set for the actors” – she said in an interview with Artur Zaborski.
The actress appreciates the fact that in the film you can feel the theatrical spirit and the mood of events that often happen behind the scenes. Referring to one of the key motifs of the plot, she mentioned that in a real theater it is also often the case that when you reveal a secret, all the employees of the institution know about it in a moment.
“If someone said in the dressing room, ‘I’ll tell you a secret,’ then everyone was definitely talking about it in a moment. Actually, I love that about the theatre,” she said, beaming.
The actress who plays one of the main roles also revealed what it was like to act on set with her screen partner – Łukasz Simlat. Although they did not know each other before, the actress quickly established a warm relationship with him, making it a fruitful collaboration.
“There was no barrier. I looked at him and felt close. I followed what he suggested, I watched him. It was a really nice meeting on the set, especially since we didn’t know each other particularly well. (…) It was like a plaster for my soul” – she confessed.
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