R&D Facility Solidarity

The play is an attempt to come to terms with the legend of the Solidarity trade union. Its history - the strikes in August, 1980, the imposition of martial law in December, 1981, the pope's visit, and later events - is shown from the point of view of Grażyna, a young woman who, after graduating from university, spends the summer of 1980 at the seaside before taking up work in a factory in Lower Silesia, where she then joins the newly-formed labour union. Grażyna never appears in the play, which is a collage of memories and comments by her relatives, friends and co-workers. We get a portrait of a young, honest and idealistic woman who closely observes low- and mid-level Solidarity activists, and must confront her idealism with the far-from-perfect daily life in the organization. This is an epic drama, narrated by characters who do not engage in dialogue with one another. Isolated statements, often contradictory and polemical, as in a documentary where people speak directly to the camera, make up a mosaic of differing views and perspectives from which there emerges a depiction of Polish society in the 1980s.