Thomas Irmer, "The tank men, the dog and Jelinek's couch" - nachtcritic.de, 6.04.2011
Marta Górnicka's CHORUS OF WOMEN is a true discovery and probably a turning point for Polish theatre...
25 women of different ages and backgrounds speak in chorus, first about good recipes and good men, and then this wonderful choral voice takes on images of women in consumer society, forced acts aimed at achieving these ideals of beauty and doubting them. All this takes place between shouts and murmurs, between gathering in strong groups and lying down on the floor as a fragile individual. [...] The last word - metoikias - refers to Antigone and her treatment as an alien deprived of her rights in her own country. A truly strong and thrilling spectacle.
Katarzyna Czeczot, “The Chorus of Women Mixes for Antigone”, www.krytykapolityczna.pl, 2.07.2010
"Marta Górnicka, the librettist of The Chorus of Women, inserts into it one of the lines pronounced by the chorus from the tragedy by Sophocles: the male chorus, as Sophocles gave priority to such a chorus...
Similarly, she appropriates all other lines. Her libretto is conceived of as a bewildering collage; bewildering since the dynamics of consecutive phrases benefits from all possible registers, from a weak squeal to invasive orders, from coquettishness, in which at times incertitude and at times fear resound, to an angry roar. Regular chants equally coexist with moments of complete cacophony (…) Clashes of languages, as well as tension created by the repeated gestures of separation and unification, breaks and alliances, the fragility of this chorus, so remote from a compact group, whose force is unity – all these make an unusual, hypnotising and electrifying enterprise. Its message combines the energy of rejection with purifying therapy: a combination that I regarded as impossible until TheChorus of Women. The enunciated text splits into quartets, duets and single voices. One of the lines interrupts another or several resound at once; the chant turns into noise, but when it returns into pure tone there is a tension in it, behind which you can feel the determination of all the singers. This is a chorus on the verge of collapse, performing, as if convinced of its mission, an anthem of integration.”
Joanna Derkaczew, “Women protest in chorus”, "Gazeta Wyborcza", 18.06.2010
"Inviting 28 women and girls, cooks, princesses, girl scouts and mothers to the chorus, director and vocalist Marta Górnicka restored the tradition of the collective comment, accusation and wailing, being such a frequent motif of ancient tragedies...
The chorus girls, cooped up tightly, at times stand taking fighting positions, at times fall apart, slumped onto the floor or wiggling their hips joyfully in loose groups. Happy preschoolers, seducers, Amazons: you can form any image of this female mass. They chant cake recipes, training songs for “bad-lassies if requested” (such as "Teach me Tiger" by April Stevens), commercial slogans, texts inspired by Antigone or Simone do Beauvoir. Childlike voices: melodious, soft, darkened. The hoarseness conceals erotic invitation, the hoarseness is evidence of an unenviable life. Almost every voice provokes the question: what prompted the owner to stand in this mad, revolted line? (…) This theatrical-social project has many features of collective therapy. At certain moments one can have impression that it does not surpass the old conclusion: “your lot is hard, woman, but you have unusual force”. However, this roaring crowd strikes with irresistible energy, which enters deep into your body.”
Aneta Kyzioł, “To Chant Femininity”, “Polityka”, 15.07.2010
“Over one hundred women appeared at the casting for The Chorus of Women, a performance by Marta Górnicka...
They differ from one another in age, life experiences and professional careers. What they have in common is their femininity and the problem of defining it in a way that gets to the truth about them and at the same time avoids numerous stereotypes. They tell us about their feeling of being lost using the excerpts of Antigone by Sophocles, the works by Simone de Beauvoir, pieces of commercials, the choruses of pop hits, motifs from fairy tales, films, operas and … recipes. Since early childhood they have been fed on fairy tales about Snow White dying and waiting for the kiss of the prince that is supposed to bring her back to life, and with films about sex bombs, a sort of Lara Croft, whose intelligence and knowledge is only a meaningless addition to their silicon breasts and sensuously parted lips. As well as with stories about women’s devotion in the style of “Halka” by Moniuszko, whose eponymous character, deceived and abandoned, finally forgives her unfaithful lover and withdraws obediently, in a feminine way. The Chorus of Women is a feminine disagreement on imposed visions of femininity. Shouted, chanted, sung and whispered disagreement for voices, solo and chorus. Constructive disagreement.”
Katarzyna Kaminska, "I'm not a princess" www.kreatywnywroclaw.pl, 29.03.2011
THE CHORUS OF WOMEN - or a modern tragedy chorus - is a phenomenon in Polish theatre...
The project - in which women of all ages and social and acting backgrounds, explore their femininity in unison - is stunning in its authenticity and sense of humour. The story, recounted by 28 women, makes use of texts by Barthes, Foucault, de Beauvoir, sound bites from commercials, recipes and words which we sometimes have at the tip of our tongue - but which we refrain from uttering. Lara Croft, baking cakes and tabloid magazines are all a pretext for a story about today's perception of femininity. [...] Marta Górnicka's project represents something of a purifying bath for both the actresses and the audience. She gives back women their voice for their own cause. But this is not about feminism or politics - it is about everyday life and language. [...] The score created by Marta Górnicka and the ability of the amateur singers to summon up such tremendous energy creates a stunning effect. THE CHORUS OF WOMEN is raw, real, ruthless - and funny.
W podsumowaniu sezonu 2009/2010 "Najlepszy, najlepsza, najlepsi" przeprowadzonym przez Miesięcznik ”Teatr” spektakl CHÓR KOBIET został uznany za jeden z najlepszych i najciekawszych spektakli teatru alternatywnego oraz muzycznego.