This is Why We Live

See it if Talented performances by the cellist and clown-dancers. Creative interpretations of the poems. Humorous and a bit morbid.

Don't see it if I guess I wasn’t a big fan of the poetry. After a while, I found it boring. Especially when it got existentialist & self-deprecating.

See it if you might like a pleasant evening of choreographed responses to several quirky, concrete yet philosophical poems of a Nobel prize winner.

Don't see it if you are looking for a play.

Also I became interested in the work of the astonishing poet Wisława Szymborska after reading an article in the NYT at the time of her winning the Nobel Prize in 1996. I liked “This is Why We Live,” the Open Heart Surgery Theatre Company’s response to a series of her poems for many reasons. Rooting their theatrical response in LeCoq-based physicality seemed right for a poet so determined to deal with the world’s particularities. Having one performer a native speaker of English, the other a speaker of French & the (lovely to hear) cellist a speaker of Polish made the words of the poems (frequently projected too) that much more prominent. While the 2 performers are fine, I felt they missed important ways to interact dramatically at several points. And the method of dealing with the poems, steady throughout, becomes less effective the more it's used. These are quibbles: The poems are special & this theatricalization very pleasant indeed.... Read more Read less

See it if you would enjoy 19 vignettes based around poetry, wonderfully brought to life by two actors/dancers/reciters accompanied by a solo cellist.

Don't see it if you are looking for a play - this is performance art with some foreign language, most of which is interpreted on screen in English.

See it if you want to see performance art done at it's finest.

Don't see it if you want a curated show to true to the intent of author and not suppressed by the fears of the director.

Also I can't read Polish, but I can't imagine that the source work provided by Szymborska, who grew up under the Nazi's and lived much of her life under the Soviets, would have seen her work as lightly as Coleen Shirin MacPherson does. In fact, the translations we hear here are much more sexually and power charged than MacPherson puts on stage. MacPherson needs to not run from the meaning of the text.

The use of Polish, English, French and Italian in the show probably is more reasonable in Canada than it is here. It is acceptable, but unnecessary. Not consistently using supertitles, even for the English, (am I really saying this?) leads to unnecessary inconsistency in our pleasure.

Alaine Hutton, Elodie Monteau and Dobrochna Zubek give flawless performances providing extraordinary pleasure to the audience and leading to the high score.... Read more Read less

See it if you love poetry & will enjoy a theatrical delivery of 21 works by laureate Wisława Szymborska, so full-bodied it brings her back to life.

Don't see it if you dislike poetry, multilingual readings (English, French & Polish, w/ supertitles), mime, interaction w/ audience. 80 minutes

Also Alaine Hutton, Elodie Monteau & Dobrochna Zubek & Open Heart Surgery Theatre (under the direction of Coleen Shirin MacPherson) have been developing this program since 2014, with funding from arts commissions in Canada, France, Poland & New York, among other jurisdictions.

This is as finely wrought a rendition of poetry as I have ever seen, bringing to life the ideas, homor & loving kindness of the Nobel Laureate.

Perhaps because I am a poet myself, published by Cross-Cultural Communications (which has published more than 400 titles in 50 languages w/ translations into English works), and therefore very fond of multi-ligual poetric presentations, this show blew me away.

Besides for the world-class poetry of Wisława Szymborska, the music, choreography & mime of the performance trio represented the finest in these respective crafts.

The 9/22/2019 talkback, w/ Columbia Univ. Professor Anna Frajlich-Zajac, a Polish Jewish poet & refugee, was an added treat.

LaMama was never so good.... Read more Read less

See it if You want an entirely new theatrical experience which downplays characters.

Don't see it if You hate artsy, avant garde work and cello playing.

Also Open Heart Surgery Theatre created a tour de force. I neither knew nor was interested in Wislawa Szymborska's poetry, despite the Nobel Prize. But it was a memorable fusion with projections, live cello, leotards and onions throughout the audience. I was told, "Sell me your soul. You have no other takers." Then she used my shoulder as a banister and climbed into the crowd. Great set, with the cellist in a cave's entrance. Performed worldwide, the trio seems like family. I was surprised by the originality and imagination involved. C'est magnifique.... Read more Read less

See it if a brief (80 min) attempt at theatricalizing the ironic elegance of the Polish Nobelist through movement, music and dramatic recitation

Don't see it if perhaps wisely, doesn't attempt to limn Symborska's essential darker aspects

Also The evening is pleasant enough, and, if you are already a Symborska fan, it may prompt you to reread some of these captivating poems (21 comprise the structure of the piece--most of them brief or excerpted). Whether it would prompt a neophyte to investigate them is doubtful. Symborska is elusive: she celebrates the mundane in the face of implacable malignant forces. Though there is joy to be found in her work, it is a dark kind of joy; this undercurrent is what is missing in this attempt to theatricalize her work.
Symborska's words are spoken in French, English & Polish (with projected translations) & accompanied by live cello (wonderfully played by Dobrochna Zubek, co-created with Tatiana Judycka). Two agile dancer/actor/clowns (Alaine Hutton & Elodie Monteau) recite the works while engaging in physical interplay among themselves & with the audience. There is too much courting of the audience for my taste & not enough risk-taking in facing the complexity of the poet's bracing vision.... Read more Read less

See it if Show w/grt act abt the poems of NobelPrize win W Szymborska. Coreo music&minimalist set all work seamlessly w/exquisite poems abt ppl &life.

Don't see it if not fond of performing arts in SOME transl foreign lang;however another reaso to see show is to open up to a multicultural unique experience

Also The poetry of Polish Wislawa Szymborska
was the reaction she had to living under
Communism immediately after WWII.
A MUST SEE, if you like poetry&music.
Yes, LA MAMA did it again !... Read more Read less

See it if You enjoy multidisciplinary story telling and "downtown" type theater

Don't see it if Looking for traditional theater and story telling.

Also Acting: B
Cellist: A
Lighting: C
Dancing: B
Set: D

Two actors (both capable), interpret poems from the Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska through acting and dance.

Poems are thought provoking at times, absurd at others. Piece starts off slow but slowly gets better and better. Engaging but left me unexcited.... Read more Read less

See it if You are up for a fabulously refreshing piece of physical theatre which takes you on a delightful and moving poetical adventure

Don't see it if You don’t like devised intellectual theatre, even if approachable. But SEE IT! It is a work of art that nourishes the soul.