Which «Socrates» Was Not Staged by Warsaw Actors for Lenartowicz in 1884? Cover Image

Jakiego «Sokratesa» nie wystawili Lenartowiczowi aktorzy warszawscy w 1884 roku?
Which «Socrates» Was Not Staged by Warsaw Actors for Lenartowicz in 1884?

Author(s): Marek Dybizbański
Subject(s): Fine Arts / Performing Arts
Published by: Instytut Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Teofil Lenartowicz; Socrates; Polish drama 1800–1900; Polish theater 1800–1900; manuscript

Summary/Abstract: Teofil Lenartowicz’s “dramatic poem” Sędziowie ateńscy (The Judges of Athens, 1895), eventually published after his death, not only took several years to write, but was also probably rewritten from scratch a number of times, under different titles (including Socrates). Some versions have survived in printed excerpts, others in manuscripts. One of the early redactions, different from the published text based on the last autograph, was the theater version prepared in 1884. The piece was not staged, for reasons that remain unclear. The copy retrieved from the theater is presently highly incomplete (with only one of five acts extant), but its text coincides with another surviving copy; based on the latter, the present article attempts a reconstruction of the performance, as designed by Lenartowicz. Attention has been paid to the stage design, metatheatrical devices, the unstable arrangement of the acts, and the relationship between word and gesture. The article also emphasises that both the theater project and the dramatic text differ strongly from the posthumously published version of the play.

  • Issue Year: 71/2022
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 149-170
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Polish