The Red and the Black is a stage adaptation of Stendhal’s classic novel, reimagined as a contemporary investigation into power, manipulation, and human vulnerability. Directed by Bartosz Szydłowski at Laznia Nowa Theatre (premiere: March 23, 2025), the production unfolds through a series of interrogations inside a symbolic “aquarium” on stage, where truth and illusion constantly collide.
As the multimedia designer (together with Peter Fick), I created the visual layer of the performance, which became a crucial part of its dramaturgy. The projections highlighted the tension between the characters’ public testimonies and their inner turmoil, amplifying gestures, faces, and subtle expressions that might otherwise remain invisible. By combining live camera work with carefully constructed visual compositions, the multimedia extended the stage space beyond the physical set, immersing the audience in both the intimacy and the alienation of the trial.
The visual concept was developed in close collaboration with scenographer and lighting designer Małgorzata Szydłowska and composer Dominik Strycharski, ensuring that image, sound, and light worked together as one language. The result was a performance where multimedia not only illustrated but also interrogated the story itself, emphasizing the fragile boundary between reality and performance, freedom and control.
Czerwone i czarne (Red and Black by Stendhal)
dir. Bartosz Szydłowski, stage design Małgorzata Szydłowska, multimedia Peter Fick, Dawid Kozłowski
premiere 23/03/2025
