“The Water Hen”

“The Water Hen” was performed in a cafe; people drank coffee, talked and smoked cigarettes. For Kantor, this was a return to the idea of reality which he had put into action in “The Return of Odysseus”. The authenticity of the place infected both the actors and the viewers. Gathered in the middle of the Room, the performers tried to retain the private character of their presence. They did not deliver the lines written by Witkacy, they did not pretend they were characters in the play. The viewers could recognize neither the boundary nor the difference between the actual performance and the chaos on stage.