While alluding to a legendary thespian challenge (“that actor could even read the telephone book and make it interesting”), the creators of this production have not attempted to make a faithful adaptation of this “work of literature with many protagonists and no action.” We all know the anecdote about Helena Modrzejewska, who, when asked what beautiful poetry she was reciting at a French party, replied: “a list of telephone subscribers.” This time, however, the list of subscribers (from various years, from 1938 to our day) is a pretext to search out all the spheres of contact between people where this device helps form relationships that could not otherwise take place. As an “analogue Facebook,” the telephone book allows us to maintain much greater anonymity, and creates much greater opportunities for acting out our hidden needs, repressed through anxieties or reticence.

The key to this project is the audience interaction. They begin with telephones ringing out of nowhere, among (oh horrors!) the audience. The actors encourage people to lift the receivers, and we must admit that they are successful in doing this. Nor can we deny the talents of wide-eyed, hypnotizing Monika Frajczyk, the defiant Paulina Puślednik, or Maciej Charyton, with his pleasant baritone…
Agnieszka Dziedzic, Teatralia