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The title Walden is a pond in the middle of a forest at which Henry David Thoreau built his cabin and moved into it on July 4, 1845, and where he lived alone for the next two years. In the performance it becomes a symbol of a place of seclusion, and escape from the overwhelming reality. A place where one can think in peace and test a new model of life.

Walden it is a story about self-reliance and about necessity of a conscious approach toward nature, state and civilization. It also draws attention to the sensible listening of the world.

The performance, based on the text by Henry Thoreau, also referring to his treatise on Civil Disobedience, is inspired by the convention of the nineteenth-century box theater, expanded with live, performative plan. At the same time it operates with modern means crossing the borders of theater, visual and sound arts. The picture remains static, as in the 19th century dioramas, becoming a kind of illustration for the action taking place in the partially pre-recorded and partially created live, sound layers.

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screenplay and stage performance: Ludomir Franczak
voice: Emil Franczak
audio production: Marcin Dymiter

Ludomir Franczak (1974) – multidisciplinary artist working with visual arts, performance and theatre. His works were shown in galleries, public spaces, and festivals in Poland, and abroad. He cooperates with musicians (Emiter, Robert Curgenven, Pogodno), visual artists (Magdalena Franczak, Sebastian Buczek), and theaters (The Zone of Silence/Poznan, Kana/Szczecin, Szwalnia/Lodz). He was a scholarship holder of Visegard Fund (VARP), Pomerania Marshal, and Ministry of Culture. His video “reading polish” was awarded as best experimental film at Euroshorts 2007 festival. He was nominated by the Polish Radio for the 2013 culture prize, awarded by Theater Institute (2015), Lublin City President (2015), and by Sobole Foundation in Design Alive Awards 2016. His main interest is the issue of memory and identity. By means of intermedia actions, he creates complex projects, using both visual arts and history, or literature. He is the author of several artistic publications. He also works as curator and cultural activist.