‘In Poland the mystery of Hamlet is the following: what in Poland is there to think about’.
These are Wyspiański's words from his Study on Hamlet, written feverishly in several days – a work that
constitutes a source of inspiration for many Polish directors. Wyspiański contained therein his fascination
with the phenomenon of theatre, his love for the brilliant text, and his great desire to read it so profoundly as
to shake the conscience of his compatriots.
Director Bartosz Szydłowski reaches for Hamlet and reads Shakespeare's most famous drama through
the world of Stanisław Wyspiański's ideas contained in his Study and in Liberation. Wyspiański died of
small-minded, egocentric Poland, entangled in national slogans. He reached for Hamlet because he saw in it
the struggle of the Polish intelligentsia member who was facing the world of lies, triumphant cackle, and
grotesque, which was transformed from an aesthetic category to a category describing the real world. The
contemporary Polish Hamlet is a Hamlet of the post-truth times. The last loner of decency.
‘Play Hamlet wherever you want in Poland. Your words: deceit, theft, insolence, shall mean insolence, deceit
and harm everywhere! And call for revenge
Production
‘In Poland the mystery of Hamlet is the following: what in Poland is there to think about’.
These are Wyspiański's words from his Study on Hamlet, written feverishly in several days – a work that
constitutes a source of inspiration for many Polish directors. Wyspiański contained therein his fascination
with the phenomenon of theatre, his love for the brilliant text, and his great desire to read it so profoundly as
to shake the conscience of his compatriots.
Director Bartosz Szydłowski reaches for Hamlet and reads Shakespeare's most famous drama through
the world of Stanisław Wyspiański's ideas contained in his Study and in Liberation. Wyspiański died of
small-minded, egocentric Poland, entangled in national slogans. He reached for Hamlet because he saw in it
the struggle of the Polish intelligentsia member who was facing the world of lies, triumphant cackle, and
grotesque, which was transformed from an aesthetic category to a category describing the real world. The
contemporary Polish Hamlet is a Hamlet of the post-truth times. The last loner of decency.
‘Play Hamlet wherever you want in Poland. Your words: deceit, theft, insolence, shall mean insolence, deceit
and harm everywhere! And call for revenge
Creative
Direction: Bartosz Szydłowski
Stage Design and Costumes: Małgorzata Szydłowska
Script: Piotr Augustyniak
Music: Dominik Strycharski
Choreography: Dominika Knapik
Lighting direction: Marcin Chlanda
Mutlimedia: Dawid Kozłowski
Stage manager: Anna Wójcicka
Producer: Bartosz Jelonek