Melancholy in Times of Crisis Cover Image

Melancholia w czasach kryzysu
Melancholy in Times of Crisis

Author(s): Mateusz Chaberski
Subject(s): Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts
Published by: Instytut im. Jerzego Grotowskiego
Keywords: Theatre; Performing Arts; Review

Summary/Abstract: Chaberski, in his review of Calligula, directed by Anna Augustynowicz (the Stefan Jaracz Theatre in Łódź, prem: 8 XII 2012), stresses that the director, after a careful reading of Albert Camus’ play, created a production rooted in melancholy, understood as a merciless and brutal exposure of the sense of emptiness taking the place of traditional values. The melancholic Calligula strives to eliminate the artificial divisions society has created, merely to improve his own sense of well-being. Yet the production, rather than tilting toward the excessive universalisation of human experience, instead employs subtle means to relate Calligula to today’s crisis-bound reality: the portrayal of a ruler’s cruelty becomes a metaphor for the economic meltdown.

  • Issue Year: 2013
  • Issue No: 114
  • Page Range: 118-120
  • Page Count: 3
  • Language: Polish