SAND: an aggregate of rock fragments. Sometimes including loadstone, tinstone, and more rarely gold dust. Diameter: 2 to 1/16 mm. […] Certainly sand was not suitable for life. Yet, was a stationary condition absolutely indispensable for existence? Didn’t unpleasant competition arise precisely because one tried to cling to a fixed position? If one were to give up a fixed position and abandon oneself to the movement of the sands, competition would soon stop.
Kōbō Abe, The Woman in the Dunes

The piece is based on the story described in The Woman in the Dunes, a novel by the Japanese author Kōbō Abe. The magical space of interaction between the book’s characters provided the inspiration for this adaptation. The story is written in sand, expressed in the languages of the body, movement and gesture. It is focused on the story of a bond between a woman and a man, but goes beyond a storyline. It is an experience that goes beyond logic and relationship – unique, intimate. Welcome to My House: A Meditation on ‘The Woman in the Dunes’ aims to transport its audiences to a moment outside of time, to the idea that we only have access to the space of the here and now. Subtle interactions, presented in a stage setting inspired by Shōji Ueda’s photographs, depict an emotional landscape too. At what exact moment a bond is born? What is the nature of the human need for closeness?

The creators of the piece began their collaboration at the Two Paths Studio, led by Przemysław Błaszczak and Jakub Gontarski, which worked at the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław as part of BodyConstitution, a project focused on performer training (2013–2016). The group’s artistic research provided impetus for artistic work. Welcome to My House: A Meditation on ‘The Woman in the Dunes’, directed by Przemysław Błaszczak, is the outcome of the methods used in the Studio’s work and the conclusion of collaboration with Karolina Brzęk and Tomáš Wortner, who are co-creators of the performance. Collaborators also include Anna Duda (dramaturgy) and Damian Borowiec (music).