“Olga. Eine charmante Frau” is based on the life of Olga Chekhova, a Nazi German actress, better known as Olga Tschechova. Born in Tsarist Russia, a niece to Olga Knipper-Chekhova – a wife of a famous dramatist, Anton Chekhov, she lived in cruel yet interesting times: she lived through both World Wars, witnessed the October Revolution and the Great Patriotic War. Destiny introduced her to the two worst totalitarianisms in human history: Stalinism and Hitlerism. Olga, in spite of the tangled paths of history, wanted to achieve her own ambitions. She wanted to be an actress. She wanted to act. Both in theatre, and in film. Her determination to change her own life, and to be her own woman was enormous. She was willing to sacrifice a lot in order to achieve this goal. She became an actress. She played in films: first in silent films, and then in sound films. She also played in theatre. In times when millions of people were dying in Kazakhstan or Siberia, or in Hitler’s death camps, Olga was pursuing her girlish dreams. How did she do it? She was allegedly flirting with the authorities of the Soviet Russia and Nazi chieftains. She is said to have been a Russian spy. She allegedly was Hitler’s favorite actress. She allegedly took part in the assassination plot planned by Stalin. Allegedly.

There are many rumors about Olga. She herself lied so much about her life, that with time she started believing in this made-up version of her life story. All the lies and confabulations, as well as living within two hostile systems, made her lose touch with reality. By wanting to survive at all costs, she was constantly losing something unquestionably valuable – the truth about herself and the truth in herself.

There is just one actress on the stage, but there are many Olgas: the actress (Schauspielerin), the spy (Spion), the owner of beauty salons (Frau). Olga puts on one mask after another in order to protect herself from history, and to achieve her own, private goal. But with time she’s no longer in control of herself or her masks. She becomes a cog in the totalitarian machines, which have no regard for the individual human life. In order to survive, she has to believe she’s the one pulling the strings, so she makes up stories about her life, mixing reality with fiction. She colors the reality to avoid feeling pain and emptiness. She just wants to survive.

The text received a distinction in the 17th National Competition for Staging of Contemporary Polish Art.