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Performance by Trzeci Teatr Lecha Raczaka (Lech Raczak’s Third Theatre), as part of 2nd Season of the Masters “The World as a Place of Truth” Sat 7 November 2015, 18:00 Wroc³aw Contemporary Theatre, Stage in the Attic ul. Rze¼nicza 12 Admission: 20 PLN Bookings and tickets: sekretariat@grotowski-institute.art.pl; tel. 71 34 45 320 Please collect your tickets from the Office (Przej¶cie ¯ela¼nicze) at least one day before the performance. Mistero Buffo is the most famous, most emblematic and, as some would argue, “signature” play by Dario Fo, theatre maker, actor, director and dramaturg, winner of the Nobel prize in literature (1997). Yet this text, the most important in the playwright’s oeuvre, produced all over the world, is completely unknown in Poland. In a humorous way and drawing on the traditions of carnival and buffoonery, it recounts stories from Holy Scripture. The play was once hotly debated, even labelled as blasphemous, although it exudes love and admiration for the protagonist of most of the tales – Jesus of Nazareth. In most likelihood, the harsh reception was due to the play’s critique of the earthly realities of institutionalized religion, enmeshed in earthly power and making a display of its wealth and splendour. Today, in the era of Pope Francis, Dario Fo’s critique takes on an unexpectedly pro-papal significance. The biggest, remarkable strength of the text, and its potential productions, is its extraordinary blend of humour and emotion, of the mundane human dimension and the supernatural power of the sacred, of the sacred and the profane: the poignant, human dimension of transcendence. Translated and directed by Lech Raczak Music Pawe³ Paluch Costumes Ewa Tetlak Video and lighting Krzysztof Urban Performers Ma³gorzata Walas-Antoniello, Wojciech Siedlecki, Pawe³ Stachowczyk, Janusz Stolarski, Pawe³ Paluch Premiered on 31 December 2014 Running time 75 minutes  Lech Raczak (1964) is co-founder of the Theatre of the Eighth Day (Teatr Ósmego Dnia) in Poznañ. Originally an actor, he also became a director in 1967, and then Artistic Director in 1968. In 1984, after the Polish Ministry of Culture imposed restrictions on the Theatre of the Eighth Day (defunding, loss of property, performance ban), the group performed irregularly, mostly in churches. In 1986 Raczak emigrated. Over the following few years, with some of the company members and a number of international performers, he toured Europe for a few years. In 1990 the group returned to Poland. No-Man’s Land was the last production created together by the director and the group. After 1993, with the international group Sekta (The Cult), Raczak continued exploring some themes from his previous work (Orbis Tertius). Between 1995 and 1998 he was Artistic Director of the Polish Theatre in Poznañ. From 1998 he worked in Italy. Between 1993 and 2012 he was Artistic Director of the Malta International Theatre Festival in Poznañ, Poland. Lech Raczak has directed about 70 theatre productions, all of which he co-created or written. His productions with the Theatre of the Eighth Day have garnered more than 30 awards in Polish and international theatre festivals. He has received solo awards for writing and directing, including the Konrad Swinarski Award, Polityka’s Superpassport, the Prize of the Minister of Arts and Culture, as well as the Gloria Artis Medal for Cultural Merit and the Officer Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Raczak gives theatre workshops in Poland and abroad. Since 2003 he has been a lecturer at the University of Arts in Poznañ. In 2013 he established the Orbis Tertius Foundation. With Teatr Trzeci Lecha Raczaka (Lech Raczak’s Third Theatre) he has staged his two original plays, Smolensk Conspiracy and Oh, How Nobly We Lived, as well as Mistero Buffo based on the play by Dario Fo, and a new interpretation of Adam Mickiewicz’s Forefathers’ Eve. He has authored many theoretical and critical texts which have been published in Poland and abroad.
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