| Acropolis, Faust, Hamlet |
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In the Theatre of European Myths with Ludwik Flaszen Fri 23 November 5pm Laboratory Theatre Space “Faust” Ludwik Flaszen’s seminar session with Włodzimierz Szturc Admission free Sat 24 November 5pm Laboratory Theatre Space “Faust” Ludwik Flaszen’s seminar session with Krzysztof Rutkowski Admission free Seminar sessions with Krzysztof Czyżewski, Prof. Dariusz Kosiński, Prof. Grzegorz Niziołek, Prof. Krzysztof Rutkowski, Prof. Włodzimierz Szturc, Prof. Joanna Walaszek All sessions will be held in Polish Ludwik Flaszen and his guests will discuss the founding myths of the West that appear in theatre (Marlow, Shakespeare, Goethe, Wyspiański), their role in shaping a European consciousness, and their resonance today – in a globalized world, at a time when cultures meet and clash, when Europe is searching for a new self-identity. Is there more to the Acropolis than just the ruins for tourists? Are Faust and Hamlet our contemporaries? We civilizations now know ourselves mortal. Paul Valéry The Hamlet conundrum in Poland is what there is in Poland to think about. Stanisław Wyspiański Ludwik Flaszen was a witness and participant in a great era of theatre. He co-founded the Laboratory Theatre, was its co-creator throughout the theatre’s life (1959–1984), and its head director in the 1980s. A critic, writer, Grotowski’s long-time partner in a creative dialogue, he himself became a theatre practitioner, leading paratheatrical actions and acting workshops in many countries. His first book, Głowa i mur (The Head and the Wall, 1958), was confiscated by the communist regime’s censors. He is also the author of Cyrograf (A Pact with the Devil), a collection of essays and short prose on the fate of the individual in a totalitarian society (first edition, 1971; latest edition, 1996, Kraków; French version, 1990, Paris), and a tome of sketches on theatre entitled Teatr skazany na magię (A Theatre Sentenced to Practise Magic; Kraków, 1983) containing texts and lectures about his collaboration with Grotowski and his contribution in establishing the creative doctrine of the Laboratory Theatre. In 2010 his book Grotowski & Company came out. It is now being translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese (in Brazil) and Italian, and an extended and revised Polish edition is forthcoming. Since 1984, following the dissolution of the Laboratory Theatre, Flaszen has been living in Paris. Włodzimierz Szturc – is a professor at the Jagiellonian University and the State Drama School in Kraków. He taught comparative studies, and now teaches mythography, ritualistics and archaeology of theatre in the Theatre and Drama Department, Jagiellonian University, and history of theatre at the State Drama School in Kraków. He was a professor at the Institute national des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris and taught a course in world literature at the Francois Rabelais University, Tours. He has collaborated with a number of institutions, including the Centre de Recherche sur L’Imaginaire (Grenoble) and Frans Roggen Foundation (Ghent). He has travelled to Greece, Indonesia and Africa to study local cultures. He writes dramas, some of which have been staged. Włodzimierz Szturc is the author of many articles, dramas and books. He is now conducting research into rites in cultures, and is working on the description and phenomenology of the mask, mostly the rite-of-passage mask, as well as on myths that contain sources which can be used to reconstruct the oldest performances in Babylon and Egypt. Krzysztof Rutkowski – is a writer, essayist, literary and cultural historian, editor, translator and journalist, as well as Associate Professor at the Artes Liberales Institute of the University of Warsaw. Early on in his career, he investigated the intersection of literature and active poetry. He is a leading expert on the life and work of the Polish Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz. He has introduced new literary genres, “passages” and “novel parables”, which blur the boundaries between fiction and academic writing, and facilitate multi-layered reflection on modern culture and the presence in it of early traditions. He is a distinguished editor of the work of authors such as Edward Stachura and Aleksander Wat, and translator of, among others, Pascal Quinard and Daniel Beauvois. He is now conducting research into classical culture. |