It is no wonder that the late Susan Sontag called them "one of the few essential theater companies working anywhere in the world today." (…) Indeed, the power of their approach lies not so much in a direct, easily digested style of storytelling—the text is a mix of Polish and English, as well as ancient Greek; actors take multiple roles or no roles at all. (…) Fundamental truths about what it means to be human. The Greek playwrights gave those truths names. Gardzienice gives them life.
/ Marlon Hurt, offoff ONLINE, NY, April, 7th. 2005 /

Elektra by the Gardzienice Centre for Theatre Practices may (…) rank as the liveliest lecture on semiotics ever produced. Though based on Euripides' play, Staniewski (with assistance from performer Mariusz Golaj) creates a nonlinear rendition. (…) Yet this lack of plot never results in a performance that's dull or difficult to follow; rather, it's absorbing. If Staniewski declines to represent an Electra complex, he nevertheless provides a most complex Elektra. / Alexis Soloski, THE VILLAGE VOICE, NY, April 12th /


This carefully orchestrated experimental technique (…) combines ancient texts and oral histories with indigenous performance skills. /Phoebe Hoban, New York Times, NY, April, 13th. 2005 /

The physicality and gesturing through out are (…) moving stained glass images pulsating with life. (…) Lead actor and co-creator Mariusz Golaj is like an avant-garde, Polish Jack Nicholson, who begins and ends our journey with an utterly compelling presence. His performance is at times heartbreaking, funny, insane and deeply personal, as Euripides, and even when he fades to the background and Electra takes over, we are always with him on his strange, nightmarish journey. Anna-Helena McLean, playing Electra, taps a pure and complex hysteria through her gesturing, singing, and cello playing. Even when we lose her and the larger tory (…) we never stop wanting to see and hear what is before us. /- in the resp; em. nachogringo, New York Times, NY, April, 13th. 2005 /

This production continues artistic director Wlodzimierz Staniewski's exploration of Ancient Greek music and iconography, and deals with themes such as the misery of exile, the craving of revenge, the taboo of incest, and the endless struggle for freedom. Staniewski transforms performance narrative into physicality, gestures, action, and movement, breaking the texts into their essences, creating a fully visceral world where the story is told through non-linear performance language. / New York Theatre Experience, Inc NY, April, 7th. 2005 /

’Gardzienice’ creates a powerful world, breaks it, gives us information, and asks us to reenter the world armed with that information. (…) They are up to the physical and emotional demands of performing these ancient texts, and there are some extraordinary scenes. Three that haunt are Electra’s rape scene, a scene where Electra breastfeeds Orestes as she convinces him to kill Clytemnestra, and an argument between Clytemnestra and Electra. And there are striking isolated images(…) The character Euripides ends the production. He wears a mask on his face and masks like scabs all over his robe, and the other actors pull the masks off him until his robe is torn away as well, leaving him naked and cowed. / Maggie Cino · NY, April, 16th. 2005 /

Gardzienice has been credited with creating a unique genre of theatrical culture based on musicality, theatrical dynamism, and gesture. Staniewski's work is known for its synchronistic interweaving of text, gesture and body movement. / NY onstage – Production Listing, NY, April, 7th. 2005 /

The ingredients of Staniewski’s stew blend together because of the company’s extraordinary energy. Performer’s leap and sing constantly, never showing signs of tiring. / Helen Shaw, New York SUN, NY, April, 7th. 2005 /


Staniewski transforms performance narrative into physicality, gestures, action and movement, breaking the texts down to their essence, their essential rhythm and color. The spectator is taken into a fully visceral world, where the story is told through this non-linear performance language.” / Polish Cultural Institute on Elektra, NY, April, 2005 /