Różewicz (nie)obecny
Różewicz Absent and Present

On Reception of Dramatic Works by Tadeusz Różewicz in Germany

Summary/Abstract: Without doubt, Tadeusz Różewicz is one of the Polish playwrights most frequently played in Germany, sharing this position with Gombrowicz and Mrożek. Since his debut on the stages of the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1960s, his texts have been constantly present in the repertories of German theatres, althoughit must be said that they have never attracted interest of big stages. Różewicz was known in Germany as a playwright for student theatres and was recognised on both sides of the Berlin Wall mostly as a poet. Reception of his works was to some extent influenced by political circumstances. Especially in Eastern Germany, Różewicz was for a relatively long time considered to be an author promoting an inappropriate social attitude, and thus it was frowned upon or even prohibited to produce his nihilistic plays, and this situation changed only in the second half of the 1970s. The article presents the reception of Różewicz’s dramatic works in Germany including Polish guest performances and productions directed by Polish directors with German ensembles. The history of Różewicz’s dramatic pieces on German stages is presented in the context of political circumstances (new cultural policy in the GDR, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany) and changing artistic tendencies (falling of Theatre of the Absurd out of fashion in the FRG).

• Details
• Contents