Gosia Wdowik on DEEPER: “A space where different generations can meet”

DEEPER, the new performance by Gosia Wdowik, will have its Belgian premiere on July 30 and 31 at Theater Aan Zee. In this production, the Polish theatre maker explores how women’s bodies have, for generations, served as a canvas for sexual violence and oppression. These persistent patterns now seem to be accelerating under the influence of AI technologies, affecting women of all ages.

Bringing together performers from three generations and the voices of teenagers, Gosia creates a space where different generations can meet, reflect on the impact of deepfake pornography, and collectively find a path toward sexual self-determination. Dive into the creative process behind DEEPER in this interview!

When did the story of DEEPER begin?

Gosia: “It started with a newspaper article about a girl in the US, her name is Francesca. It was a story about how her face was added to a porn video. For me, it was somehow interesting to read about that girl who was only fourteen and had never had a sexual experience, but her classmates integrated her face to this porn video. I don’t really get the motivation behind why they did that.”

What kind of world do you want to create with DEEPER?

Gosia: “With DEEPER, what we try to do is include the perspective of teenagers by creating a voice who tells the story. At the same time we want to create a strange movie set where we present different clichés often seen in films, for example, where a woman is raped or abused. These clichés are very present in our culture. We try to go really deep inside them, and by doing so, we disarm them. The idea behind this is that right now, with the help of AI, we can create an amazing amount of images.”

Jaśmina Polak, Karin Tanghe and Laura Vanborm are the performers in DEEPER. How did you end up working with them?

Gosia: “I had already worked with Jaśmina before on Shame and She was a friend of someone else. For Laura and Karin, this is our first creation. It was important for me to include the voices of women from different generations. Jaśmina represents my generation. Laura is a bit older; she is also a mother of two sons and has a background in dance. Karin is 68, and for me, it was interesting to work with an actress who is older and has her own life experience. She comes from a very different generation, but at the same time, she truly understands the topic. Even though the tools of fake pornography are new, the underlying mechanisms are the same as she knows from her time."

Tickets for DEEPER at Theater Aan Zee can be purchased via this link.