Dziady Unchained
Forefathers' Eve Unchained

Summary/Abstract: Radosław Rychcik has transposed Forefathers' Eve (Nowy Theater in Poznań, premiere: 22.03.2014) into American history and (pop) culture: the characters and plot lines from the drama have been inscribed into cliches from the American imaginarium, both from films (e.g. the Joker as Guślarz, the figure of Marilyn Monroe, Kubrick's The Shining, Lynch's Twin Peaks, Tarantino's Django), and American politics and history (Kennedy’s assassination, slavery, the Ku-Klux-Klan). In Kowalski's view, however, the play is incoherent (it has a few specifically Polish elements, such as the Great Improvisation performed by Gustaw Holoubek) and uses an excess of associations. This results from the director's ambivalent approach to the text: on the one hand, he stresses his mistrust of Mickiewicz, while on the other he wants to convince the viewer that this is a universal drama.

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