Tenth Anniversary Jubilee
two more presentations

Friday, January 16th, 7pm
Middle Collegiate Church
50 East Seventh Street (@ 2nd Ave)

Sunday, January 18th, 11am
The Cell Theatre
338 West 23rd Street (between 8th & 9th Ave)

$15 suggested donation
doors open 10 minutes prior to start

call 718 638 6037 for more information
or e-mail us

Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine
21 December 2008
photo by Fred Hatt

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Theatre Group Dzieci's signature piece, "Fools Mass", is celebrating its 10th year of performances.
After a series of successful presentations in December, two additional shows have been scheduled
for January. A week long run of this seminal work will be presented at LaMama ETC in April.

As this season marks the tenth anniversary of Fools Mass, so it is also the tenth anniversary
of the death of Jerzy Grotowski, the father of Dzieci's theatrical lineage, the Poor Theatre.
It is no accident that the mythic priest of Fools Mass is named Father Jerzy.
The piece has always been a tribute to Grotowski and a memorial.
Though company director, Matt Mitler, studied primarily with Ryszard Cieslak,
Grotowski's lead actor, and had intense contact with the rest of the members
of the Polish Theatre Laboratory, his interactions with Grotowski himself
were brief. But not so brief as to leave him unaffected.

"When Grotowski died, I felt daunted by a wave of responsibility.
How could I continue to serve this heritage? And if I didn’t, who would?
Ten years later, these questions still resound in me. May they always continue to do so."
- Matt Mitler, company director, commentary from the program notes

Dzieci is the New Brunswick Theological Seminary
2008-2009 Helen Studdiford Kleis Visiting Artist.

Fools Mass is profiled in the new edition of the Encyclopedia of Religion.

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"Dzieci is a wonderful example of the spiritual intensity possible
when theatre engages the age-old mysteries of faith and
the human experience.We at the Cathedral found
the very stones of our monumental building
coming alive through their presence."
Canon Tom Miller
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine

download flyer (pdf)

Union Theological Seminary
14 December 2007
video: Fred Hatt
hosted by YouTube