Examines the previously unresearched formative years of Polish director Jerzy Grotowski’s career.
Polish director Jerzy Grotowski (1933–1999) was an international leader in experimental theater who became famous in the late 1960s for his revolutionary approach to audience involvement. This volume is devoted to Grotowski’s early work—the performances he directed in the Theatre of 13 Rows (later Laboratory Theatre of 13 Rows) between 1959 and 1964 when the theater was working in the provincial town Opole in south-western Poland. Having decided to work in his own independent theater, Grotowski moved to Opole in September 1956 and developed his ideas with young, inexperienced actors, creating important performances that foreshadowed his renowned masterpieces of the late 1960s.
In The Unknown Theatre of Jerzy Grotowski, Dariusz Kosiński and Wanda Świątkowska reconstruct, analyze, and interpret each of the nine performances directed by Grotowski over this period: from Orpheus based onJean Cocteau (1959) to Hamlet Study based on Stanisław Wyspiański (1964). Previously mentioned mainly in the context of the development of Grotowski’s method, these performances dealt with important social, political, and philosophical problems of postwar and post-Holocaust Poland. Grotowski also used these performances to experiment with the forces and problems that he later tried to be discreet about, such as sexuality.
Revealing unnoticed and forgotten aspects of Grotowski’s theater, this landmark book presents new materials and perspectives that give fresh life to the study of a genius of twentieth-century theater.
By:
Dariusz Kosinski,
Wanda Swiatkowska
Translated by:
Marek Kazmierski
Imprint: Seagull Books London Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780857429957
ISBN 10: 0857429957
Series: Enactments
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 04 May 2023
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction (Dariusz Kosinski) Chapter 1: Innocent wizards. Orpheus after Jean Cocteau (Dariusz Kosinski) Chapter 2: Alpha, Omega and that which is in-between. Cain after George Gordon Byron (Dariusz Kosinski) Chapter 3: Farce-Mystery, or there can be no other Socialism. Mystery-Bouffe after Vladimir Mayakovsky (Dariusz Kosinski) Chapter 4: A Hindu erotica. Shakuntala after Kalidasa (Dariusz Kosinski) Chapter 5: A mystery ‘in-yar-face’. Forefathers’ Eve after Adam Mickiewicz (Dariusz Kosinski) Chapter 6: Polishness as madness. Kordian after Juliusz Slowacki (Dariusz Kosinski) Chapter 7: Our Acropolis. Acropolis after Stanislaw Wyspianski (Dariusz Kosinski) Chapter 8: ‘To heaven? You blaspheme in vain’. Tragical History of Doctor Faustus after Christopher Marlowe (Dariusz Kosinski) Chapter 9: Jerzy Grotowski's Hamlets. Hamlet Study based on the works of William Shakespeare and Stanislaw Wyspianski (Wanda Swiatkowska) Conclusion (Dariusz Kosinski) Index
Dariusz Kosiński is professor at the Institute of Polish Language and Culture Abroad of the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Wanda Świątkowska is assistant professor of theater and drama at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Marek Kazmierski is a writer, editor, and translator.
