To Bitch or Not to Bitch: Hertz Haus: Norma 2026 - Rebirth

In Polish with English subtitles. Performance for adult audiences; contains nudity.

For the body, it is a question of life and death. In cultural and social contexts, we operate with various concepts and inevitably with value judgments: is the body dirty or clean? Is it unblemished, or does it remain true to its nature? Do universal criteria even exist for resolving these dilemmas?

For the creators, corporeality is key - innards, digestion and excretion, imperfections, eczema or stains. This creates a kind of laboratory where physiology meets philosophy. Stains, blemishes and imperfections are, moreover, a recurring motif in Shakespeare, where they appear directly - as marks of violence, for instance in the form of bloodstains or fatal wounds.

The Hertz Haus collective in the production To Bitch or Not to Bitch draws from Shakespeare's poem The Rape of Lucrece, but avoids direct depiction of violence. Instead, it focuses on the traces that rape leaves on the female body and psyche, and on care for a body that has been subjected to violence.

The production won the ShakespeareOFF competition at the 28th Shakespeare Festival in Gdańsk in 2024 - the jury appreciated both the choice of the poem and the form of execution, especially the original approach to the subject of rape without explicit depiction of violence. The production was also selected for the Polish Dance Platform 2026 showcase, held in September in Wrocław.

The production is co-organized by the Polish National Institute of Music and Dance as part of the PolandDances / Tournée programme, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Direction, choreography: Hertz Haus (Magdalena Kowala, Natalia Murawska, Joanna Woźna, Anna Zglenicka)
Music: Wojciech Wilk
Dramaturgical consultation: Patrycja Kowańska
Light design: Filip Ejsmont and Hertz Haus