The post-traumatic theatre of Grotowski and Kantor : : history and Holocaust in Akropolis and the dead class / / Magda Romanska.

• Superior document: Anthem Studies in Theatre and Performance
• VerfasserIn: Romanska, Magda,
• Place / Publishing House: London : : Anthem Press,, 2012.
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Anthem Studies in Theatre and Performance
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xviii, 401 pages) :; digital, PDF file(s).
• Notes: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015).

Despite its international influence, Polish theatre remains a mystery to many Westerners. This volume attempts to fill in current gaps in English-language scholarship by offering a historical and critical analysis of two of the most influential works of Polish theatre: Jerzy Grotowski's 'Akropolis' and Tadeusz Kantor's 'Dead Class'. By examining each director's representation of Auschwitz, this study provides a new understanding of how translating national trauma through the prism of performance can alter and deflect the meaning and reception of theatrical works, both inside and outside of their cultural and historical contexts.

Table of Contents

Part I Our Auschwitz: Grotowski's Akropolis -- Chapter 1 Jerzy Grotowski: A Very Short Introduction 49 -- Chapter 2 Native Son: Grotowski in Poland 57 -- Chapter 3 Grotowski: The Polish Context 62 -- Chapter 4 Grotowski, the Messiah: Coming to America 73 -- Chapter 5 The Making of an Aura 82 -- Chapter 6 On Not Knowing Polish 86 -- Chapter 7 "In Poland: That is to Say, Nowhere" 90 -- Chapter 8 Akropolis/Necropolis 93 -- Chapter 9 The Vision and the Symbol 95 -- Chapter 10 "This Drama as Drama Cannot Be Staged" 104 -- Chapter 11 Two National Sacrums 107 -- Chapter 12 "Hollow Sneering Laughter": Mourning the Columbuses 111 -- Chapter 13 Against Heroics 119 -- Chapter 14 Representing the Unrepresentable 122 -- Chapter 15 Trip to the Museum 126 -- Chapter 16 Bearing the Unbearable 129 -- Chapter 17 The Living and the Dead 136 -- Chapter 18 Jacob's Burden 141 -- Chapter 19 The Final Descent 147 -- Chapter 20 Textual Transpositions 150 -- Chapter 21 Akropolis After Grotowski 152 -- Illustrations 157 -- Part II Our Memory: Kantor's Dead Class -- Chapter 22 Tadeusz Kantor: A Very Short Introduction 185 -- Chapter 23 Dead Class: The Making of the Legend 193 -- Chapter 24 Dead Class in Poland 196 -- Chapter 25 The Polish History Lesson 199 -- Chapter 26 Dead Class Abroad 201 -- Chapter 27 On Not Knowing Polish, Again 204 -- Chapter 28 The Visual and the Puerile 209 -- Chapter 29 The National and the Transnational 212 -- Chapter 30 Witkiewicz's Tumor 215 -- Chapter 31 An Age of Genius: Bruno Schulz and the Return to Childhood 229 -- Chapter 32 Conversing with Gombrowicz: The Dead, the Funny, the Sacred and the Profane 238 -- Chapter 33 Panirony: "A pain with a smile and a shrug" 244 -- Chapter 34 Raising the Dead 252 -- Chapter 35 Dead Class as Kaddish ... 256 -- Chapter 36 Dead Class as Dybbuk, or the Absence 260 -- Chapter 37 The Dead and the Marionettes 262 -- Chapter 38 Men and Objects 267 -- Chapter 39 Dead Class as Forefathers' Eve 274 -- Chapter 40 Dead Class: The Afterlife 280.