At the heart of “Gardenia” are four women – four generations of one family’s female line. Each of them tells their own story in their own time, from the Second World War to the present day. The women meet in a timeless foyer where their stories intertwine.
The story reveals how family patterns, attitudes and experiences – love and care, but also pain and violence – are passed from mother to daughter. We can’t choose the family or the time we are born into, but can we – and how much – choose how we live? The play does not look for a culprit, but asks: how much space do we have to choose and create our own lives?
“Gardenia” – like the plant of the same name – symbolises hope, trust and love. This production looks for those tender moments in relationships between women where pain and tenderness are present at the same time. It is a story of mothers and daughters, of hope and will to live, of freedom of choice and the inevitability of fate.
The play takes place in Poland, but the themes are cross-cultural. The text has been staged in many parts of the world, including Hungary, Romania, Italy, Slovakia and the United States, where it has won acclaim for its universal themes and human depth.
Attention!
Smoking is allowed in the production (health-safe nicotine-free lava smoke).
