In their performance, artists Nicholas Grafia and Mikołaj Sobczak pick up on global historical narratives about exploitation, imperialism and oppression from the point of view of those affected.

The title of this work, Peasants, refers to a segment in society that has always been emblematic of exploitation on the one hand and revolutionary forces on the other. In order to convey given interwoven historical and social events, the two artists sometimes draw on the genre of epic theatre. The forty-minute performance takes its starting point at the beginning of the 19th century, at the time of the Haitian Revolution. With the aid of traditional Haitian and Slavic mythologies and sagas, Sobczak and subtly interweave current socio-political discourses with tales from folk belief. Based on this method, they address topics like the imbalance of (co)existence on the global level, various phenomena subsisting beyond the boundaries of mainstream society, groups regarded as stigmatized or the effects of exploitative ideologies of both the past and the present. The artists deliberately play with the understandability of their narratives, not only by speaking different languages, but also by moving through time and space, as it were—like mythical beings navigating between centuries.

Thematically, their performance takes them from ancient Rome to the current border policy of the EU. The music, choreography and costumes are likewise geared toward bringing the stories and traumas of marginalized groups into narrative focus. The performance thus illuminates the origins of structural discrimination and, at the same time, highlights ongoing injustices.