Magda's paper is up.
I look forward to reading it! What kind of feedback are you seeking?
Magda's paper is up.
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» GROUP II / Magda Romanska
» Magda's paper is up.
Hi Magda,
I have three questions in relation to your article:
1. Why did Schaeffer write Webern "for the drawer" (p.4)? My first thought was that it may have been too subversive, but then it seems like he never pursued it to be performed (not even in the 1990s).
2. Also, it sounds like his earliest pieces rooted very strongly in the tradition of the avant-garde (primarily his view of and experiments with the actors and space). How did the regime and the cultural politicians respond to his work? What made it acceptable for them?
3. My impression is that Schaeffer went from an experimental, avant-garde playwright (pre-changes) to a mainstream, more commercial author (with exceptional works though). Would you agree with this? I may be totally off here, but the way you described HereThere and Dream and Not very much reminds me to some Hungarian "star" productions with star casts, star creative teams, and exceptional authors - who often very much struggle to maintain their edge in these more audience-oriented and conventional environments.
I am not sure if Schaeffer was ever produced in Hungary, so I can't wait to recommend these plays to my dramaturg colleagues in Budapest. These could be very popular there as well.
Magda,
While reading your paper, I could not help but think about the relationship between Schaeffer and Kantor.
o Both treated the actor as an instrument/medium/object (5).
o Kantor, while not a musician, also conducted his actors in rehearsals and performances (5).
o Both Schaeffer and Kantor moved between what are conventionally considered disparate categories of art: music - theatre and visual arts - theatre, respectively (4-5).
o Kantor’s work can arguably be seen as an embodiment of the theory of “Pure Form” as defined by Witkacy. Stabro sees Schaeffer’s work as a return to Witkacy’s theatre of “Pure Form” (11).
o You draw this link explicitly in relating the self-consciousness of the Schaefferian actor – the Baggage Actor – and the seamless movement between roles to Kantor’s Wandering Artist (17).
The Baggage Actor also brings to mind Kantor’s Emballages. I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts about the connections and discontinuities between the work of the two, particularly given your extensive research on Kantor.
You allude to the fact that while his work was performed earlier, Schaeffer himself only came to prominence after 1989 (8). I wonder if you could say more about Schaeffer’s relationship to the authorities and vice versa in years 1950-1989.
Dear Magda,
I greatly enjoyed reading your paper and was very impressed with Bogusław Schaeffer’s work – thank you! I’m particularly interested in Polish theatre as I’m now directing “He Left Home” by Tadeusz Różewicz.
One point that particularly drew my attention was your analysis of Schaeffer’s entering the mainstream after 1989. You state that through their lack of “references to Polish national themes, Polish politics, or Polish history” (10), his plays liberated Polish theatre from “the Polish complex” (10) and offered the audience a medium of transnational reflection on/of “the quirks and absurdities of life under capitalism” (10). In this context, I would like to learn more about what you call, quoting S. Stabro, “the exhaustion of political language in drama” (11). Are there Polish plays that attempt to redeem the communist past? Did Polish playwrights engage this topic to “exhaustion”? According to my research, Romanian playwrights rather avoided it and I’m very interested what was the case in Poland.
As a side note, I was surprised by the idea of “a play one can see multiple times” (13) and would love to talk what it takes for a play to achieve this type of popularity. Are Shakespeare’s plays in this category and, if yes, for similar reasons? Does watching a play more than one time create the distancing effect Virginia Murphy mentions in her paper (2)?
Finally, a more practical question: are the TV adaptations of Schaeffer’s plays available (with English subtitles :-) ?
Thanks again – I can’ wait to read Schaeffer’s plays and maybe direct one of them.
Diana
Hi Magda, I really enjoyed reading your essay and learning about Schaeffer's development and work. One question that I have, and this might be really general, is that you've titled this an introduction, so I am assuming that this is perhaps an introduction to a book project that you're working on? I am wondering, then, what the overall argument of the project is? And whether or not you see continuity across Schaeffer's plays, from early to late?
These plays all sound fascinating, and I really enjoy the mixture of narrative and argument that you weave throughout the essay.
Dear Magda,
Very interesting stuff. Is this the introduction to a collection of translated plays that you are working on? I hope so!
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