Director: Natalia Sakowicz
Text by: Zuzanna Bojda
Puppet Design by: Olga Ryl-Krystianowska
Choreographer: Iza Szostak
Composer: Maciej Cempura
Lighting Designer: Maciej Iwańczyk
Performed by: Natalia Sakowicz

The performance was created as part of the Young Poland Scholarship Programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as well as in the framework of the Artistic Scholarship of the Marshal of the Podlaskie Voivodeship.

Project Partners: the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, Department of Puppet – Theatre Arts in Białystok, Ochota Theatre in Warsaw

Premiere: 17 June 2021, Warsaw

I am the promise of an adventure, an exciting journey into the unknown. You don’t know what awaits you. Get away from your mundane life and sail with me to a better place, where it is more pleasant, where you can do more and feel more. Relax. Don’t worry about anything. I will make your innermost dreams come true. What are you longing for? A relief? Freedom? Strength? I’ll give it all to you, just grab me, squeeze me, and take me home. Let’s get lost together. Cin cin! To love! To us!

‘Romance’ is a solo puppet performance by Natalia Sakowicz. Combining a human-sized puppet, electronic music and contemporary dance, the artist tells a story about a toxic relationship, the feeling of inner void and loneliness, the difficulty in accepting one’s body and being prone to addiction.

Natalia Sakowicz
A Polish independent theatre artist. In her work, she combines various means of expression spanning from puppetry to physical theatre and contemporary dance. Her solo performances often deal with feminist themes, stereotypes in regards to gender roles, interpersonal relationships as well as the relation with one’s own body. She lives in Warsaw and works at the Academy of Dramatic Art, Department of Puppet – Theatre Arts in Białystok.

Awards and prizes
Audience Award at the XXX Klamra – Alternative Theatre Meetings in Toruń;
Kryształowa Pestka Award at the 13th International Festival of Avant-garde Theatre and Culture Pestka in Jelenia Góra;
Award for the Best Female Role at the XXVIII International Puppet Theatre Festival Spotkania in Toruń.