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Books by Magda Romanska

REVIEWS: “These rich and profound essays not only place Kantor retrospectively into the theatr... more REVIEWS:

“These rich and profound essays not only place Kantor retrospectively into the theatrical past, but also argue persuasively for his relevance in the 21st century as an avatar of postdramatic and posthuman performance, and of object theater and performance art.”
– Choice Magazine

“In their edited collection, Theatermachine, Magda Romanska and Kathleen Cioffi address the lack of recognition and critical attention given to Polish theater maker Tadeusz Kantor and attempt the important work of remedying this dearth of scholarship by repositioning the study of his productions and theoretical writings as productive sites of contemporary theory and aesthetics.” – TDR: The Drama Review

“This diversity of authors – and the resulting various research views – is very valuable. It makes it possible to avoid situations where the same researchers write about Kantor’s works over and over again, but above all, it enables the editors to achieve the goal of showing the variety of contexts in which it can be successfully and in an interesting way placed. The work of the editors of the volume deserves recognition. The book they have prepared above all proves that Tadeusz Kantor’s work can still inspire, surprise and provoke discussion.”
– Didaskalia

“The most important result of this publication is that through this entanglement of different discourses, cultures, and narrations, Kantor’s art reveals itself not only as practice but also as a strong theoretical proposal.”
– Modern Drama

“Romanska and Cioffi’s edited volume comes out at a perfect moment; Kantor’s legacy needs new analysis.”
– Theatre and Performance Design

“In 2020, American theatre-related circles received an outstanding book covering multiple aspects of the work of Tadeusz Kantor. Theatermachine: Tadeusz Kantor in Context starts with the introduction by Magda Romańska (one of the editors). She points out that as much as Jerzy Grotowski’s focus on the body in his theatre practice made him the exemplary theatre figure of the second-half of the twentieth century, Kantor’s disembodied, truncated, object-oriented productions make him the signpost of the twenty-first century post-dramatic theatre that challenges the unified structure of the performance, gets rid of the character and plot, leaving the space for disconnected bits and pieces of transient reality. The theme of Kantor’s post-dramatic bent iterates in many other chapters as post-memory (Klaudiusz Święcicki, Anna Róża Burzyńska), or post-human age (Romańska) and is referenced as post-dramatic tragedy by Hans-Thies Lehmann. The arrangement of the consecutive chapters indicates how meticulously the editors were choosing the texts in order to continue the main thematic trajectories, but at the same time add a different perspective and a new angle to every section. We are confronted with myriads of [Kantor’s] ideas and the book edited by Magda Romańska and Kathleen Cioffi, like a real “Kantormachine,” is the best representation of this phenomenon. And the machine rolls on.”
– The Polish Review

PEER REVIEWS:

“This groundbreaking collection of beautifully edited essays is impressive in both scope and depth. The book deftly interweaves Kantor’s Polish, Jewish, international, and theoretical roots, thus illuminating essential connections between each in thrilling new ways.”
—Dassia Posner, Northwestern University, author of The Director’s Prism: E. T. A. Hoffmann and the Russian Theatrical Avant-Garde

“A unique collection, full of splendid writing and vivid insight, destined to become an essential resource on one of the twentieth century’s seminal experimental theater artists.”—Jonathan Kalb, Hunter College, the author of Great Lengths: Seven Works of Marathon Theater

“An invaluable and much-needed collection on the incomparable Kantor—his work, his life, his theatrical prescience. Kantor confronted the twentieth century in profound ways that changed the future of theater. This volume approaches his methods and means through twenty-first-century lenses that Kantor’s own work might be said to have forecast—post-dramatic theory, new materialism, thing theory, and posthumanism. As such, Theatermachine expands our understanding not only of the theater artist but of theory and practice that would follow.”—Rebecca Schneider, Brown University, the author of Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment

REVIEWS: Magda Romanska and Alan Ackerman’s Reader in Comedy is a well-thought-out anthology tha... more REVIEWS:

Magda Romanska and Alan Ackerman’s Reader in Comedy is a well-thought-out anthology that embarks on a challenging enterprise: to provide an overview of theories related to comedy, broadly conceived, starting with the ancient Greek comedy and ending with the present-day sitcoms, vaudeville performances, slapstick comedy, and Internet humor. The general introduction, in turn, offers a valuable outline of the book: it explains the provenance of key terms, outlines debates on the role of comedy in particular periods, discusses typical comic plots and character-types, and ends with a brief synopsis of relevant theories of humor and laughter. Combined with the useful bibliographies following each of these prefatory studies, the Reader is an invaluable tool for teachers and students alike. The section on the twentieth and early twenty-first century, on the other hand, contains a superb selection of texts, from expected pieces by Luigi Pirandello, Jacques Derrida, Mikhail Bakhtin, and Northrop Frye, to insightful analyses by contemporary theorists, such as Glenda R. Carpio (with a piece on black humor in slavery fictions), Ruth Wisse (on Jewish humor), and Magda Romanska (on disability in tragic and comic frame). This selection provides, thus, an inspiring diversity of views on the modern comic theory that could inform courses on comedy and/or dramatic art in both literature and theater departments.
– SharpWeb.com

The task of assembling a reader is daunting, and editors Magda Romanska and Alan Ackerman admit the difficulty of their task up front. They model a clear acceptance of historical shifts in ideas on the function of comedy, providing rigorous contextualization that locates each idea in its moment in time, and makes this a robust and useful primer for Western comedy theory through the ages. After the “General Introduction,” which admirably establishes the comic vocabulary in use throughout the text and sets the stage for the rest of the book, the text is divided into five chronological sections covering “Antiquity and the Middle Ages,” “The Renaissance,” “Restoration to Romanticism,” “The Industrial Age,” and “The Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century.” Each section contains an introduction of its own that deepens the discussion that was begun in the broader strokes of the “General Introduction.” Though each introductory section is, of course, focused on its respective time period, the editors mark reference points throughout, noting connections and contrasts that bridge the eras while looking forward and back along the evolution of writing on comedy. What [this volume] does—and does well—is assemble a strong collection of foundational texts for those looking to ground themselves in Western scholarship of the comic over time.
– Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism

The question of how to define what comedy is or should be is one that can never be fully answered in literary and dramatic criticism. Magda Romanska and Alan Ackerman’s anthology embraces the difficulty in defining the genre that has existed since its inception in their lively and informed introduction, which is followed by sixty-four excerpts from literary and critical texts that reflect the changing definition of this slippery and amorphous genre. The volume takes us clearly and concisely on its journey of exploring the genre, with a particular focus on dramatic comedy. The passages which are presented demonstrate a considerable diversity in their interpretation of what comedy is, and should be. There is also a welcome range in terms of genre and time period. The main benefit of this collection is in presenting these texts together as a starting place for those interested in genre studies. It makes a welcome addition to the Bloomsbury Methuen Drama series.
– Forum for Modern Language Studies

Editors Magda Romanska and Alan Ackerman open their book by admitting the difficulty of their tasks: to historicize a genre so diverse in form and style and to define a genre (and its many subgenres) that itself resists definition. Rising to the challenge, the editors of Reader in Comedy: An Anthology of Theory and Criticism have created a temporally expansive analysis of western comic theory. Romanska and Ackerman’s collection of theoretical texts tells a story of how comedy and comic theory reflect and influence theatrical and performance conventions, social structures, technology, philosophy, and civic life. It is a substantial anthology that interweaves performance studies, drama, literature, and critical theory. Romanska and Ackerman have curated a collection that charts continuity in comic theory without diluting historical specificities. Each introduction to the chapters succinctly contextualizes the comic theory of its time and also links the annotated texts to previous chapters. Consequently, I would recommend this text for a survey course on comedy and comic theory in the United States and Europe, or to any scholar seeking a broad overview of writings on comedy.
– Modern Drama

In 64 extracts, this comprehensive anthology covers 2375 years of mainly philosophical texts in 375 dense pages. this is an immense resource covering a lot of ground.When choosing a theme like this, a motif to draw through history, it’s fascinating how many other aspects of personal, social and existential life begin to cohere around the topic. What one wants from an anthology is breadth as well as detail; one wants the reach but also the specifics. What’s important is not only the selection, but making choices within the selection itself, knowing what to cut and paste. This anthology certainly has the range and there were, for me, many new discoveries, such as links with religion, aesthetics and diversity politics.
– South African Theatre Journal, December 2017

A work of scholarship spanning this breadth of time, featuring the text of so many contributors, and from so many languages runs the risk of being bogged down by the weight of its information. In reaching backward and forward in time at so many points without creating confusion, the Reader is a testament to the work of Romanska and Ackerman. Reader in Comedy feels appropriately challenging and would make an ideal text for university-level coursework…..As the unique challenges of the twenty-first century materialize, Reader in Comedy arrives precisely when it is needed most, and it provides an excellent starting point for those looking for relief, resistance or both.
– Platform Journal of Theatre and Performing Arts, November 2017

Romanska and Ackerman’s Reader in Comedy is a very ambitious project, which draws on a range of sources from antiquity to the twenty-first century to compile an authoritative volume of works about comedy. …The editors have created [anthology] with remarkable breadth.
– Studies in Theatre and Performance, August 2017

An impressive cast of notable contributors offers their definitions of comedy and its historical contexts, themes, narrative structures, plots, character types and tropes. As a valuable precis of historical writings on comedy, Reader in Comedy is a full, rich and highly informative anthology that can be dipped into time and time again. It traces the evolution of thinking about comedy and comic text and places this within a consolidated timeline. For the scholar of comic theory and criticism, this is an extremely valuable reference tool.
– Comedy Studies, July 2017

REVIEWS: It is not overstating the case to say that this volume will for sure be the book of r... more REVIEWS:

It is not overstating the case to say that this volume will for sure be the book of reference for students, scholars, and dramaturgs in the fields named above if it comes to questions of dramaturgy. The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy goes far beyond a conventional handbook on dramaturgy as a way to structure a text to be staged. Rather, it claims attention to and evokes interest for the variety of a concept and a profession that not only covers crucial aspects of the field, but also implicitly highlights the richesse of dramaturgy as a field of study and therefore advocates theatre, performance and media studies as important disciplines that have a long history whose end is not in sight.
—Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, April 2017

The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy honours the diverse and varied nature of dramaturgical practice. … The range of this book is, as stated, quite extensive: its depth is impressive. Its sections take into account world dramaturgy; dramaturgy and globalization; the dramaturg as mediator and context manager (contexts being transculturalism, translation, adaptation, and contextualisation); dramaturgy in other art forms, such as film, dance, musical theatre, and gaming; the dramaturg in public relations, among others. As well as this, not only are these essays multifarious in scope, but they are also manifold in their written form. Its first section focuses on world dramaturgy and it was particularly satisfying to see the focus was not solely on Europe and North America, but also dramaturgical practices in Syria, Australia, India, Brazil and Latin America. Thus, the collection is at times instructive and often self-reflective. It functions as an introduction to dramaturgy in theory and practice, as well as facilitating a conversation about the profession and even acting as a survey of recent practice. To me, Romanska’s collection is a statement as to where contemporary dramaturgical practice is at present, whilst also envisioning its future(s). With its compiling of multiple voices, techniques, perspectives, and techniques into one compendium—once again, facilitating a conversation seems appropriate in this context—it is a singular, vital, and necessary contribution to the field.
—Platform: Postgraduate Journal of Theatre Arts, Autumn 2016

The book makes a virtue of its eclecticism and allows both term and role to appear across an array of contexts, conceptualizations, and performance practices. Some of the more practical, methodological accounts of dramaturgical work address areas that are underrepresented in other publications. It is an indispensable resource for anyone serious about dramaturgy.
—Contemporary Theatre Review, October 2016

With eighty-five essays, The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy offers comprehensive coverage of dramaturgical theory and practice. The wide range of essays emphasizes versatility and adaptability and the continuing relevance of analytical research processes in professional theatre and education. Contributors address practice from new play development to video game storyboarding, from composition in the university classroom to immersive theatrical experiences in prison barracks, and for performances with dance or puppetry. The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy will prove highly useful in theatre and performance practice, education, and scholarship. Artistic directors, directors of individual productions, and early career and long-time dramaturgs will find support for their artistic missions and new ideas for audience development and outreach. At the college level, undergraduate students will benefit from the insights into text analysis and applications of performance history, while educators will find pedagogical encouragement and inspiration. Finally, scholars of performance and theatre will appreciate the wide-ranging coverage of dramaturgical theory in the rehearsal room and literary classroom.
—Theatre Survey, May 2016

The book offers an impressive range of voices and insights into dramaturgical practice in the form of short articles (four to five pages) structured into meaningful divisions. It certainly serves its purpose as a primary sourcebook.
—Theatre Research International, October 2015

A timely gift to the world of contemporary theatre. As the newest of collaborative roles in theatremaking, dramaturgy is well established in some performance cultures and still viewed with suspicion in others. The Routledge Companion is a testament to this much-misunderstood practice, and will greatly assist the recognition and consolidation of dramaturgy as an art. This impressively varied volume includes, in its 8 parts, 85 essays that shine different forms of light on dramaturgical theory and practice. Romanska’s intro is magisterial, managing to address, with astuteness and depth, what dramaturgy was, is, and can be.
—American Theatre, July 2015

Romanska has put together a robust, impressively comprehensive volume that covers the ever broadening scope of contemporary dramaturgy within a global context. There is no attempt to define dramaturgy here; instead the intent is to explode open what possibilities the notion of dramaturgy holds in practice and in scholarship. With 85 essays—covering topics from production dramaturgy, translation, season planning, play analysis for nonconventional drama and performance, dramaturgical skills and strategies to the use of social media and new paths for audience outreach—this volume reveals the established, emerging, and imagined ideas of what dramaturgy is and could be. It includes essays that provide global perspectives from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The contributors range from those who have long been invested in the conversation (for example, Elinor Fuchs, Mark Bly, Anne Bogart, and Ann Cantaneo, to name but a few) to new, fresh voices. The volume is destined to become a go to reference for practitioners and students of dramaturgy, along with directors, critics, playwrights, and theater scholars.
—Choice Magazine, May 2015

Romanska attempts to provide a map of contemporary dramaturgical practice and theory, bringing together practising dramaturgs and academics who provide a range of perspectives in their contributions. Romanska has set herself a formidable task in editing this volume. [The book provides] a wide range of working methods in postdramatic theatre outlined in clear terms.
—Theatralia, February 2015

REVIEWS: Romanska persuasively argues that the two seminal works named in her title have been... more REVIEWS:

Romanska persuasively argues that the two seminal works named in her title have been vastly under-studied and widely misunderstood; through extensive research, she aims to recover their literary, linguistic, historical, and cultural contexts. At the most basic level, the book assails critics (primarily American) for the hubris of thinking they can review, teach, write about, or even begin to comprehend Akropolis and Dead Class without knowing “Polish,” by which Romanska means the language itself, of course, but also Poland’s literature and history, and its profound relationship to the Holocaust. She demonstrates how both productions were deeply political responses to that “taboo subject,” but written under Soviet repression in a “coded language” that Romanska painstakingly works to decode. At its largest level, the book reaches beyond the ostensible objects of its study to boldly indict the entire field of Performance Studies as an inherently flawed mode of inquiry. She seeks to restore meaning to those two productions by retrieving their sources; the larger implication of her study is to challenge contemporary scholars to follow her model by conducting similarly rigorous inquiries into other theatrical work. Those who do know and teach these pieces will undoubtedly find Romanska’s work to be an invaluable resource. Her book will also serve as a provocation to scholars in the fields of theatre and performance, as she throws down the gauntlet, challenging them to reconsider the question of meaning in productions by replacing subjective “responses” with rigorous, contextual analysis.
—Theatre Annual: A Journal of Performance Studies, September 2015

Addressing a gap in western scholarship, Magda Romanska expertly and accessibly places these central works [Jerzy Grotowski’s Akropolis and Tadeusz Kantor’s Dead Class] into the cultural and historical context she convincingly argues is essential to their understanding. This text is a valuable resource for those looking to better understand the complex creativity of Grotowski and Kantor within their Polish historical, social, and literary context. [The book] is not only a rich explanation of these dramatists, but also serves as an engaging overview of the Polish literary tradition. Romanska offers a broad introduction to Grotowski and Kantor, as well as the historical and literary tradition of which they are a part. Of particular interest is her concise explanation of their respective theatrical philosophies, as well as the complicated traditions of Jewish mysticism and Romantic messianism that reverberate through the works.
—Pol-Intel.org, August 2014

Richly documented chapters interweave primary sources, critical commentary, and contemporary theory (for example, Adorno, Agamben, Bettelheim, Améry) on each topic. Through its argumentation and design, the book demonstrates a sophisticated dramaturgical strategy for re-historicizing and recontextualizing theatre and performance events [….] The book also introduces English-language students to a significant national literature and encourages them to undertake equally rigorous, culturally specific readings in their fields of interest.
—Theatre Journal, May 2014

Non-Polish-speaking scholars of Grotowski and Kantor will be grateful for Romanska’s work. She opens up areas of these two productions which have been unavailable; trauma and Holocaust survivors will be glad to be made aware of them; and Romanska indicates the direction for further analysis in this area.
—New Theatre Quarterly, November 2013

Romanska’s fundamental objective is to reconstruct and provide the complex historical and cultural context that is necessary for a proper and deep understanding of the works—and thus to illustrate the possibilities and necessity of nuanced interpretations that take into account the text, subtext, and literary references. The task, which the author sets out and performs, starting from such a clearly defined research perspective, is both remarkable and impressive in its momentum and size.
—Performer, June 2013

"This anthology of plays by Boguslaw Schaeffer, a Polish playwright, composer, musicologist and g... more "This anthology of plays by Boguslaw Schaeffer, a Polish playwright, composer, musicologist and graphic designer, includes his most frequently performed works: Scenario for One Actor (1976), Quartet for Four Actors (1979), and Scenario for Three Actors (1987). The plays are examples of Instrumental Theatre. Like Schaeffer's microtonal compositions, they are carefully structured and employ cyclical repetitions, and codes. Schaeffer's most famous instrumental play, The Quartet for Four Actor, has been so successful that it has been staged by practically every Polish theatre. Scenario for One Actor, opened in 1976 & has since been staged over 1,500 times around the world. During its 40 year run, it has been critically acclaimed and has won many awards, including the 1995 Grand Prix at New York's Theatre Festival.

"I place Boguslaw Schaeffer's genius firmly at the centre of the European cultural heritage which expressed avant-gardism during my life-time." – Richard Demarco, from the Foreword
"

Journal Articles by Magda Romanska

Body, Space & Technology , 2024

This paper looks at the new field of posthuman disability studies and its potential to provide a ... more This paper looks at the new field of posthuman disability studies and its potential to provide a theoretical framework for critical theory's engagement with modern technologies. Historically, the human body, as represented and defined on stage and in art, has maintained a strictly defined visual integrity. Anything not shaped as 'human' was typically deemed monstrous (from hybrid mythological creatures to severely disabled 'elephant men'). Simultaneously, the category of 'human' was used to circumscribe the boundaries of belonging and the categories of valuation: some groups, including the disabled, were deemed 'sub-human' and designated to either be disposed of (as the carrier of 'life unworthy of life') or, if possible, to approximate the 'human' body. (Romanska 2019: 92-93). Until very recently, the goal of the prosthetics industry was to create limbs that would serve as visual stand-ins for missing limbs. Similarly, the technological capacities of prosthetic limbs were delineated by human capacities: the disabled were to be given as many 'abilities' as the non-disabled, but no more. However, this perception of what the disabled body can and should do has changed with technological progress: not only do the newest prosthetics often look as 'unhuman' as possible, but their capacities put into question the capacities and limits of the non-disabled body. All of these and other issues that have emerged in recent years at the crossroads of posthumanism, disability, and biomimicry have led to the development of posthuman disability studies, which tries to untangle and reconceptualize the ethical, legal, and philosophical boundaries of human enhancement, species belonging, sentiency, life and death, and human rights. The posthuman biomimicry and the prosthetic aspects of digital and AI technologies presuppose a form of disabling of the human body: a body without any connection to some type of machine is an inferior body. In this context, understanding the historical dynamics, critical, philosophical, and ethical debates that have dominated disability studies can provide a framework for how we reconceptualize our posthuman, hybrid future in which our existence with the machines that redefine previous hierarchies is inevitable. Thus, the paper proposes critical posthuman disability studies as a new analytical paradigm for recontextualization and exploration of the new modes of being in the Age of Tech.

Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturg, 2023

The paper on Meyerhold I initially wrote as a lecture for my students. It might not be of interes... more The paper on Meyerhold I initially wrote as a lecture for my students. It might not be of interest to advanced theatre folks who know Meyerhold’s work, but it might be beneficial for undergraduate students. The paper explains the difference between Meyerhold and Stanislavsky’s methodologies, and the relationship between body and politics in the Soviet theatre, particularly the question of who is in control of whom (actor/director/audience), and thus, who is in charge of whose emotions, what makes for an 'awakened consciousness,' and finally, who is to decide? Back in the olden days of Eastern Europe, most of these debates were common knowledge, but I am finding that increasingly, younger theatre students are struggling to understand how crucial for twentieth-century politics this discourse was.

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0

The Mercurian: A Theatrical Translation Review, 2023

Introduction to translation of Andrzej Wajda's 1984 adaptation of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishm... more Introduction to translation of Andrzej Wajda's 1984 adaptation of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. What should we do with Russian literature in the age of war? After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Eastern European intellectuals and academics who research and write about Russian literature, particularly those living in the West, had to face a reckoning with the current state of Slavic studies and scholarship. Like most of his compatriots, Dostoevsky supported the imperial project, embraced the Raskolnikovian sense of superiority towards the conquered nations, and wrote extensively about the virtues of Russia’s civilizing mission. Wajda’s adaptation is an artifact of a particular historical moment in Polish history and culture, reflecting the tragedy of Central and Eastern European countries struggling to find and hold on to their national identities while also compulsively trying, over and over again, and failing to understand its oppressor. This adaptation, when properly understood, is a form of Polish and by extension, Central and Eastern European artifact of its colonial history.

Performance Philosophy Journal, 2022

Shaped by Hegel, philosophy’s approach to Antigone has always been firmly rooted in all the assum... more Shaped by Hegel, philosophy’s approach to Antigone has always been firmly rooted in all the assumptions of realism, with proper, true-to-life, consistent, and plausible characters. These characterological mimetic interpretations often feed off of each other within the context of what’s perceived as “realist” drama, with its focus on characters and their insoluble, hence tragic, conflict. Starting with the twentieth-century avant-garde, however, theatre became less and less interested in characterological mimicry as a foundation of drama and what follows, as the foundation of the theatrical experience itself. Along with the shift in our approach to character, we have also experienced a shift in our understanding of other Aristotelian components of drama (“Plot” and “Thought”) and dramatic genres (“Tragedy”). As our sense of character and Thought shifted from stable to unstable, so did our understanding of tragedy and its role at the junction of theatre and philosophy. Tragedy has shifted from dialectic to aporia, from binary to polynary. Antigone—with its multiple interpretations and critical lenses—illuminates this fundamental shift in our understanding of tragedy and, thus, the fundamental shift in the relationship between theatre and philosophy in postdramatic theatre. Definition of tragedy shifted from dialectic (Hegel), through the subconscious self-destructive force of the death drive (Lacan), a reflection of patriarchal and colonial hegemony (Butler, Castro), a function of state’s biopower (Foucault), and finally, to an aporic condition of grief, and suffering (Derrida, Lehmann).

Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance, 2020

When first released in 1975, Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom, directed by the already-notorious Ita... more When first released in 1975, Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom, directed by the already-notorious Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, aroused instant controversy. As a framework for its plot, Salò took the infamous 500-page novel by the Marquis de Sade, 120 Days of Sodom. In de Sade’s novel, four libertines, President de Curval, the Duc de Blangis, Durcet and the Bishop of X, sign a contract whose main clause is commitment to breaking as many taboos as they can possibly think of. With sixteen youths, eight girls and eight boys, servants, guards and four procurers and ex-prostitutes, the libertines isolate themselves in a remote chateau
to re-enact their every fantasy. Filming Salò, Pasolini’s goal was to remain faithful to Sade’s novel. The characters, events and structure of the story remain the same. The more controversial aspect of the film, however, was Pasolini’s idea of relocating Sade’s novel into the actual historical context of the fascist Republic of Salò. For Pasolini, the gesture of moving Sade to Salò was to draw an actual analogy between the fascism and sadism. For some critics, the parallel between fascism and sadism was unfortunate exactly because it presented fascism, a real and palpable
phenomenon, as an abstraction (the way that Sade’s world functions).

Grotowski: L'eredità vivente, 2013

Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, 2010

This article analyzes a recent play, "9 Parts of Desire" (2003) by Heather Raffo—an Iraqi America... more This article analyzes a recent play, "9 Parts of Desire" (2003) by Heather Raffo—an Iraqi American—which deals with the tragic conditions of Iraq as expressed by nine Iraqi women of different backgrounds and age groups. The performance of the play, often featuring one actress playing the nine roles, was successful in the US. The author finds parallelism between Iraqi trauma marked by repression, sanctions, and wars, and narrated by women, and other catastrophic events and testimonies. She links staged discourse with traumatic syndromes and dramatic theory. The article raises issues related to representation of the Other and identification.

Theatre Survey, Jan 1, 2009

AWARDS: 2011 AQUILA POLONICA ARTICLE PRIZE The biennial prize, funded by Aquila Polonica P... more AWARDS:

2011 AQUILA POLONICA ARTICLE PRIZE

The biennial prize, funded by Aquila Polonica Publishing, is awarded by the Polish Studies Association to the author of "the best article written in English during the previous two years on any aspect of Polish studies."

FROM THE AWARD COMMITTEE:

Romanska’s article "succeeds taking a relatively difficult and opaque subject, Grotowski’s 1962 re-staging of Wyspiański’s Akropolis against the background of Auschwitz, both accessible and rewarding for readers who are not specialists in Polish theatre. While Romanska’s analysis remains grounded in theatre, and her conclusion is ultimately about theatrical production, she raises many questions about history, memory, and national mythology that most readers will want to learn more about. What is particularly impressive is the scope of the article, which ranges over the entire twentieth century. [...] Romanska’s work makes a convincing argument that we need to be paying more attention to theatre in Poland."

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2010 GERALD KAHAN SCHOLAR'S PRIZE

Awarded by the American Society for Theatre Research, for “best essay written and published in English in a refereed scholarly journal.” The winning essay is judged as "displaying originality in the broad field of theatre and performance, exhibiting critical rigor, showing an acquaintance with related research in theatre and performance, and promising future professional development in the field.”

FROM THE AWARD COMMITTEE:

Romanska’s essay offers“an excellent unpacking of both Stanislaw Wyspianski’s 1904 drama, Akropolis, and its production history. Her essay made use of extensive sources to tell a complicated story-layered text, performance, and context, paying attention to the original script as well as performances, especially, those directed by Jerzy Grotowski. The essay provides a missing, though essential, analysis of a production that is often cited, but perhaps rarely understood in its full context. The methods of historiography and documentary analysis are excellent and provide an instructive model for future performance scholarship.”"""

TDR: The Drama Review, 2007

What is the relationship of an artwork to the sociopolitical context in which that work was creat... more What is the relationship of an artwork to the sociopolitical context in which that work was created? James Westcott discusses how Thomas Hirschhorn in Superficial Engagement reproduces the violence of war propaganda. Magda Romanska analyzes the trial in Poland of Dorota Nieznalska, accused of “offending religious feelings” with her work Passion. Ilka Saal reports on the 15th International Istanbul Theater Festival where emerging artists break with both the state and aging Western notions of the avantgarde.

Gender Forum: Gender and Jewish Culture, 2008

"Concentrating on the foundations of monotheistic religions, Magda Romanska’s contribution “Perfo... more "Concentrating on the foundations of monotheistic religions, Magda Romanska’s contribution “Performing the Covenant: Akedah and the Origins of Masculinity” re-evaluates the covenant between Abraham and God from a gender perspective. Drawing on Derrida and Kierkegaard, she analyses the male ethics of self-sacrifice as well as the gendered connection between death and wisdom. In an analysis of Sarah’s part in the story she then describes the systematic exclusion of women from the covenant with God, and hence from the possibility of becoming an ethical subject within this logic. The mechanisms through which this exclusion is achieved are shown to be manifold – the ritual of circumcision, binding men to each other and collectively to God, is elaborated on alongside the narrative silencing of Sarah and Abrahams privilege of being able to hear the voice of God. Sarah’s death, in this context, operates on a very different level than the sacrifice requested of Abraham and reveals that the only path to the divine open for women is to become the subject-object of sacrifice." - Editorial, Gender Forum: Gender and Jewish Culture, 2008

Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2005

The paper elicits how the late-nineteenth-century theatrical tradition of staging Hamlet and the ... more The paper elicits how the late-nineteenth-century theatrical tradition of staging Hamlet and the aesthetic tradition of representing Ophelia intertwined to produce the modern necro-aesthetic. Caught between death and beauty, but excluded from the ontological predicament of the Shakespearean story, Ophelia became a model of turn-of-the-century feminine subjectivity (subsequently marked in contemporary aesthetics by the blend of refinement and sophistication). The visual discourse of representing dead Ophelia—driven by the compulsion to “see” on the canvas what was not “represented” on stage—filled in the cognitive-narrative gap in the staging of the story. Visualized as “blind to everything external” and “blissfully elsewhere,” as Hegel put it in his Aesthetics, Ophelia provided a platform for the interconnection of the theatrical, visual, and linguistic discourse of the time. The image of her dead body thus solidifies the core of the death-driven feminine subject, “shattered by something intrinsic to her very being,” to quote Hegel again. The paper draws on the socio-economic aspects of the nineteenth-century gender relations which eventually came to glorify the image of an emaciated, fragile woman, with Ophelia being a central figure in the equation.

Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts (Special Issue: On Shakespeare), 2005

Book Chapters by Magda Romanska

Theatre and the Macabre, University of Wales Press, 2022

In light of the radical Marxist critique of modernity launched by the Frankfurt Institute for Soc... more In light of the radical Marxist critique of modernity launched by the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research (eventually known as the Frankfurt School), with which Walter Benjamin remained in a somewhat cautious but nonetheless direct relationship, a book on German Baroque theatre might seem extraneous and obsolete. What connection, if any, did Benjamin see between the Baroque Trauerspiel and modernity?

Theatermachine: Tadeusz Kantor in Context, Northwestern University Press, 2020

Theatermachine: Tadeusz Kantor in Context is an in-depth, multidisciplinary compendium of essays ... more Theatermachine: Tadeusz Kantor in Context is an in-depth, multidisciplinary compendium of essays that examine Kantor’s work through the prism of postmemory and trauma theory and in relation to Polish literature, Jewish culture, and Yiddish theater as well as the Japanese, German, French, Polish, and American avant-garde. Hans-Thies Lehmann’s theory of postdramatic theater and contemporary developments in critical theory—particularly Bill Brown’s thing theory, Bruno Latour’s actor network theory, and posthumanism—provide a previously unavailable vocabulary for discussion of Kantor’s theater.

Postdramatic Theatre and Form. Bloomsbury Press, 2019

In Postdramatic Theatre, Hans-Thies Lehmann positions Tadeusz Kantor's work as one of the central... more In Postdramatic Theatre, Hans-Thies Lehmann positions Tadeusz Kantor's work as one of the central signposts of postdramatic theory and practice. Unravelling the traditional models of dramatic structure, character, plot and the very notion of stage presence, Kantor challenged both the definition of dramatic theatre as well as devised work that specifically responded to and captured-in both form and content-the postmodern condition. As Lehmann argues, 'the postdramatic theatre of a Tadeusz Kantor with its mysterious, animistically animated objects and apparatus [is] crucial for understanding the most recent theatre'. 1 However, what makes Kantor's dramaturgy even more essential for understanding contemporary theatre is that, in addition to being classified as postdramatic, it can also be classified as posthuman.

REVIEWS: “These rich and profound essays not only place Kantor retrospectively into the theatr... more REVIEWS:

“Romanska and Cioffi’s edited volume comes out at a perfect moment; Kantor’s legacy needs new analysis.”
– Theatre and Performance Design

PEER REVIEWS:

REVIEWS: Magda Romanska and Alan Ackerman’s Reader in Comedy is a well-thought-out anthology tha... more REVIEWS:

REVIEWS: It is not overstating the case to say that this volume will for sure be the book of r... more REVIEWS:

REVIEWS: Romanska persuasively argues that the two seminal works named in her title have been... more REVIEWS:

"I place Boguslaw Schaeffer's genius firmly at the centre of the European cultural heritage which expressed avant-gardism during my life-time." – Richard Demarco, from the Foreword
"

Body, Space & Technology , 2024

Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturg, 2023

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0

The Mercurian: A Theatrical Translation Review, 2023

Performance Philosophy Journal, 2022

Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance, 2020

Grotowski: L'eredità vivente, 2013

Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, 2010

Theatre Survey, Jan 1, 2009

AWARDS: 2011 AQUILA POLONICA ARTICLE PRIZE The biennial prize, funded by Aquila Polonica P... more AWARDS:

2011 AQUILA POLONICA ARTICLE PRIZE

FROM THE AWARD COMMITTEE:

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2010 GERALD KAHAN SCHOLAR'S PRIZE

FROM THE AWARD COMMITTEE:

TDR: The Drama Review, 2007

Gender Forum: Gender and Jewish Culture, 2008

Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2005

Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts (Special Issue: On Shakespeare), 2005

Theatre and the Macabre, University of Wales Press, 2022

Theatermachine: Tadeusz Kantor in Context, Northwestern University Press, 2020

Postdramatic Theatre and Form. Bloomsbury Press, 2019

Theatermachine: Tadeusz Kantor in Context, Northwestern University Press, 2020

Kantor’s theory of bio-objects is extremely important for modern theatre (particularly in the con... more Kantor’s theory of bio-objects is extremely important for modern theatre (particularly in the context of contemporary thing theory, developed by Bill Brown, and actor-network theory [ANT], developed by Bruno Latour), but its influence goes beyond art toward current research on posthuman aesthetics: cyborgs and bionic bodies. Kantor’s experiments with the interaction of the human body and objects can be a key to our understanding of modern technology and its interaction with human bodies. Thus, he can be understood as Kantor as a proto-posthuman artist.

Reader in Comedy: An Anthology of Theory and Criticism, Bloomsbury Press , 2016

Comedy is difficult to define, though the word has been in active use for thousands of years. In ... more Comedy is difficult to define, though the word has been in active use for thousands of years. In ancient Greek, komoidia and, in classical Latin, comoedia referred to amusing stage-plays. In fourteenth-century French, there was comedie, and the frst recorded use of ‘comedye’ in English dates to Chaucer’s poem Troilus and Criseyde in 1374. Today,
if you go to ‘Genres’ on any movie database, you will and ‘Comedy.’ But if you click on ‘Subgenres’, you will discover more than a dozen options, including ‘Dark Comedies’, ‘Mockumentaries’, ‘Romantic Comedy’, ‘Satires’, ‘Slapstick’, ‘Stand-up Comedy’, and more. Send-ups of politicians, jokes about sex, love stories that end in marriage, and old people making themselves ridiculous by pretending to be young are all forms of comedy that have a long history. Political humour, satire, farce, burlesque, sketch comedy, comedy of character, and comedy of manners – these many kinds of comedy employ different styles and make fun of diverse targets. Is it possible to generalize across this diversity?

Reader in Comedy: An Anthology of Theory and Criticism, Bloomsbury Press, 2016

The connection between humor and disability is perhaps one of the most challenging, and underres... more The connection between humor and disability is perhaps one of the most challenging,
and underresearched, aspects of comic theory. Modern theorists of humor and comedy
generally pursue two lines of inquiry: along one they analyze how, historically, humor
at the expense of the disabled has created and reestablished discriminatory and alienating comic conventions (these critics also argue about whether we’ve experienced
the emergence of a taboo on such humor—or the continued lack of such a taboo);
along the other line of inquiry, theorists investigate different comic strategies used
by the disabled to avert and displace comic insults (including black humor, ironic
detachment, and self-deprecation). Disability and humor studies share a number of
salient critical points, among them a focus on incongruity theory, which traces the
source of humor to disjunction between normative and non-normative appearances and behaviors. We can even argue that it is, in fact, the comic frame that has structured
the very experience of disability across the world.

The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy, Routledge, 2014

This definition of dramaturgy as a comprehensive theory of dramatic structure is the cornerstone ... more This definition of dramaturgy as a comprehensive theory of dramatic structure is
the cornerstone of modern dramaturgical practice. This is also how the concept of
dramaturgy is viewed in popular culture. In the February 2013 episode of the hit TV
series Smash, titled “The Dramaturg,” a dramaturg is referred to as “the book
doctor.” His job is to fix the structural errors afflicting the script of the new musical.
This particular example of the pop culture use of the word “dramaturg” reflects a
broader understanding of the concept of dramaturgy to mean any purposeful
arrangement of events, as in the dramaturgy of one’s life, war, or political campaign.

Ghost Stories and Alternative Histories, Jan 1, 2007

"Magda Romanska argues that with the rise of nationalism in late nineteenth-century Europe, the p... more "Magda Romanska argues that with the rise of nationalism in late nineteenth-century Europe, the pattern of the patriarchal covenant in Hamlet paralleled the process of nation-building. Hamlet’s filial loyalty toward his Father’s ghost was perceived as a symbol of
patriotic loyalty towards one’s nation/Father-land. Conversely, as a “gift of death” that cements the patriarchal contract, Ophelia became a model of the nineteenth-century feminine ideal." - Editor, Ghost Stories and Alternative Histories, 2007

The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy, Routledge, 2014

The relationship between math and music has long been known and analyzed. We know that a well-str... more The relationship between math and music has long been known and analyzed. We
know that a well-structured musical composition is like a well-structured mathematical
formula. The mathematician and violinist James Stewart argues that mathematics,
like music, is concerned with structure, “the way mathematical objects fit together and
relate to each other.”1 The same can be said of art: from classical realist paintings and
sculptures to the most abstract works of Picasso, Kandinsky, Malevich, Mondrian,
and Pollack, each composition follows a carefully arranged structural order with
colors, shapes, patterns, and empty space consciously complementing, supplementing, and juxtaposing one another. But what about drama and theatre? The idea that theatre is guided by the same rules of mathematics appears both absurd and absolutely logical. If all other art forms work according to the same rules, why shouldn’t theatre? Indeed, although the relationship between math and dramatic structure has never been explicitly explored, math has always been implicitly present in the development of Western drama and dramatic theory. In 1863, the German novelist and playwright Gustav Freytag published Die Technik des Dramas (Technique of the drama), in which he outlined a geometric pattern of dramatic structure in classic Greek tragedy.

International Women Stage Directors, University of Illinois Press, 2013

The Post-Traumatic Theatre of Grotowski and Kantor, Athem Press, 2012

Oberon Books , 2012

"This beautiful new volume, a collection of three plays translated by Magda Romanska, is an acces... more "This beautiful new volume, a collection of three plays translated by Magda Romanska, is an accessible and illustrative introduction to the work of Bogusław Schaeffer. While the plays collected in this anthology offer a rich source for those looking to engage with Schaeffer’s ideas on performativity and the production of art, they are also (and perhaps more importantly) immensely enjoyable pieces of theatre. Romanska’s translations not only bring Schaeffer’s unique works to an English-speaking audience, but do so in a way that preserves the rhythm, humor, and linguistic play of the originals. They are a pleasure to read and frequently offer irreverent, surprising, and entertaining perspectives on contemporary art."
- The Cosmopolitan Review

Adapting Chekhov: The Text and Its Mutations, Routledge , 2012

The Cultural Politics of Heiner Muller, 2008

"Magda Romanska in her chapter, “Opheliamachine: Gender, Ethics, and Representation in Heiner Mue... more "Magda Romanska in her chapter, “Opheliamachine: Gender, Ethics, and Representation in Heiner Mueller’s ‘Hamletmachine,’ provides a brilliant literary and political analysis of Mueller’s use of the character of Ophelia in his signature play. She traces German culture’s use of Ophelia (and Hamlet) from the late 18th Century to the present – in drama, poetry, the fine arts, medicine and psychology – and explores how the various images, articulations, and manifestations of Ophelia and Hamlet fed into to the coming-into-being German nationalism of the 19th Cnetury and, at the same time, contributed to the specifics of gender identity within German culture. In so doing, Romanska traces the cross-fertilization (if you will) between the shaping of gender and the shaping of nation in Germany. Showing how Muller made use of all this cultural baggage, Romanska, provides a non-pelemical look at Muller’s own conflicted relationship – in ‘Hamletmachine’ and elsewhere – to the radical feminism of the late 10th Century. In so doing, she provides not only an erudite look at Mullers digging up of the dead in ‘Hamletmachine,’ but points forward to this volume’s third section which explores Muller in relation to the unfolding political culture of the 21st Century.” - Editor, The Cultural Politics of Heiner Muller, 2008

The Sacred Tropes, Brill Press , 2009

"In ‘Sarah's Gift: Gender, Agency, and the Sacred’, Romanska gives us a reading of the story of t... more "In ‘Sarah's Gift: Gender, Agency, and the Sacred’, Romanska gives us a reading of the story of the sacrifice of Isaac which renders it explicitly one of the subjugation of the feminine to the patriarchal order. She begins by discussing the ‘sacrificial economy of the gift of death’ (p. 394) in terms of the (averted) sacrifice of Isaac in the context of Derrida's and Kierkegaard's discussions of Christian perspectives on sacrifice as a leap of faith, an ethical choice that here had to be made between ‘two absolute irresponsibilities’ – that of man to fellow man, and of man to God. She then puts the question ‘what is, then, the place of the feminine in the economy of the sacred?’ (p. 396). Taking Derrida's observation that women play no part in Abraham's sacrifice story as a starting point for her discussion of female (self-)sacrifice in this story, she uncovers a more ‘hidden’ aspect to the text. This, in turn, raises questions of the extent to which this lack of apparent female agency speaks to notions of gender equality and man's divinely sanctioned ‘right to rule women’." - Book review by Helen Blatherwick, Journal of Qur'anic Studies. Vol. 14, No. 2 (2012), pp. 136-145.

TheTheatreTimes.com, 2024

What does it take to launch - and maintain - a large global theatre digital infrastructure like T... more What does it take to launch - and maintain - a large global theatre digital infrastructure like The Theatre Times? We are asked this all the time, so we wrote it down:
Since its launch in November 2016, TheTheatreTimes.com has published over 5,000 articles, interviews, and theatre reviews covering theatre in 90 countries and regions. With 32 thematic sections, more than 150 Regional Managing Editors, and over 60 media partners around the world, we have grown to be the most far-reaching and comprehensive global theatre portal today. TheTheatreTimes.com is envisioned as a transnational discursive space that brings together theatre scholars, theatre-makers, and theatre lovers, generating opportunities for interaction and creative development amongst a wide network. Our collaborative, decentralized model runs counter to so-called helicopter research, an approach in which less wealthy nations provide research source material but don’t always share the benefits of the research.

Antigone Journal, 2023

"Over the past four years since the pandemic started, different countries have implemented distin... more "Over the past four years since the pandemic started, different countries have implemented distinct strategies to curb the spread of Covid-19. Most of these measures have not been accepted in democracies, where privacy laws and civil freedoms are considered the bedrock of a social contract.
In rejecting these more drastic measures as contradictory to their governing model, democratic societies have also instinctively rejected milder forms of infection control, such as masks, HEPA filters and social distancing, even in healthcare settings where such measures used to be routine before the pandemic. These actions have been detrimental to clinically vulnerable populations, sometimes sentencing them, so it appears, to permanent self-isolation. Can these two contradictory state interests, maintaining the foundations of our political system and protecting the public — particularly its most vulnerable members — from a highly infectious and still-deadly disease, be reconciled?
One of the most famous Greek tragedies, Antigone, teaches us that it’s probably not possible, and that we should learn to live with the incongruity."

Big Think, Aug 11, 2023

American culture considers grieving a finite process which ends with “closure.” The “monomyth” mo... more American culture considers grieving a finite process which ends with “closure.” The “monomyth” model of grieving offers closure and recovery, but in most traditional cultures the dead never leave the living. Traditional religious rituals of the afterlife provide the traumatized brain with the comforting sense that death is a temporary parting.

The Conversation, 2022

Discussion of works on stage that explore the complex moral conflicts and traumas that these abdu... more Discussion of works on stage that explore the complex moral conflicts and traumas that these abductions have generated throughout history, from China to Argentina and many places in between.

American Theatre, 2021

"A Manifesto for the Future Stage" (which has been translated into twelve languages) was collecti... more "A Manifesto for the Future Stage" (which has been translated into twelve languages) was collectively written by the Future Stage research group at metaLAB at Harvard. The manifesto’s key themes: performance as a human right, architectures that promote connectivity, expanded concepts of liveness, sustainable models of touring, a rethinking of streaming not as a fallback option but instead as an expressive medium, and the need for new institutional and fiscal models.

Reed Magazine, 2021

There was a saying in the Eastern Bloc back in the days of the Soviet regime: "You might not want... more There was a saying in the Eastern Bloc back in the days of the Soviet regime: "You might not want to follow the news, but the news will follow you." It meant that if you're not aware of what's happening in the larger world, you might not be able to escape the next impending catastrophe, be it human-or nature-made. Thus, those of us who grew up in the Eastern Bloc (Poland, in my case) are compulsive readers of news: understanding the world being considered essential to survival. I am explaining this to provide context for why I ordered my first face masks on January 22, 2020.

The Conversation, 2020

The vast majority of characters with disabilities, whether they’re played by actors with disabili... more The vast majority of characters with disabilities, whether they’re played by actors with disabilities or not, continue to represent the same outdated tropes.

LA Review of Books, 2018

As Daniel Gerould noted, placing Mrożek either in the tradition of the theatre of absurd or in th... more As Daniel Gerould noted, placing Mrożek either in the tradition of the theatre of absurd or in the tradition of Eastern European dissident writers is outdated and limiting. The fact that Mrożek’s plays survived the time and continue to be performed globally shows the timeless appeal of his work: “In their obsessive concern with conspiracy, terrorism, and paranoia, and their exposure of the hidden links between culture and power, his plays seem strikingly contemporary.” Blending kynical reason, satire, grotesque, black humor, and comic reframing, Mrożek created a stage language that grapples mercilessly with enduring questions of human history and its consequences. That his conclusions can be viewed as both optimistic and pessimistic might be the very essence of Mrozkesque style.

Cosmopolitan Review: A Transatlantic Review of Things Polish, In English, 2012

“The Solidarity period in Poland lasted from August 1980 until December 1981. While it was a peri... more “The Solidarity period in Poland lasted from August 1980 until December 1981. While it was a period of relative freedom in Poland, it was also one of persistent uncertainty and fear. There was always the possibility that the Soviets would invade, and that with each new governmental concession to the people, eventually, a price would have to be paid. The bill came due on 13 December 1981 when martial law was declared by General Wojciech Jaruzelski, who had come to power a month earlier. The Polish phrase ‘stan wojenny’ or ‘state of war’ is a much stronger indication of the realities of the Polish state in this period than the phrase ‘martial law.’ For a time, Polish communications with the rest of the world were totally cut off.”
– Robert Findlay and Halina Filipowicz, “Grotowski’s Laboratory Theatre: Dissolution and Diaspora.” TDR The Drama Review, 30, 3 (T111), Fall 1986: 214

Cosmopolitan Review: A Transatlantic Review of Things Polish, In English, 2012

Schaeffer is a composer of music, a music theoretician, a playwright, and a graphic designer.

The Mercurian: A Theatrical Translation Review, 2024

My English translation of Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz's play "June Night" (1980) was just published in ... more My English translation of Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz's play "June Night" (1980) was just published in The Mercurian: A Theatrical Translation Review. Poet, novelist, and playwright, Iwaszkiewicz has been a mostly forgotten figure in Polish theatre, but in recent years, both Nobel-winning writer, Czesław Miłosz, and Oscar-winning director, Andrzej Wajda called for a reevaluation of Iwaszkiewicz’s works and his status in the landscape of Polish literature. Set in 1863, after the failed January Uprising (this part of Poland was under Russian occupation at that time, following the partitions of Poland), "June Night" focuses on one participant in the uprising, Peter, who is about to be sent to Siberia, and on his wife, Countess Ewelina, who is obliged, by the current standards of the patriotic wifely duty, to follow him. Polish wives who do not follow their Polish husbands to Siberia are shunned by other local Polish estates, so the price of not complying with the marital duty is permanent social ostracism. Ewelina’s choice is additionally complicated by her ambivalent feelings towards her husband whom she does not appear to love, and her attraction to a young soldier from the Tzarist army....

The Mercurian: A Theatrical Translation Review, 2023

Translation of Andrzej Wajda's 1984 adaptation of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. What should... more Translation of Andrzej Wajda's 1984 adaptation of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. What should we do with Russian literature in the age of war? After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Eastern European intellectuals and academics who research and write about Russian literature, particularly those living in the West, had to face a reckoning with the current state of Slavic studies and scholarship. Like most of his compatriots, Dostoevsky supported the imperial project, embraced the Raskolnikovian sense of superiority towards the conquered nations, and wrote extensively about the virtues of Russia’s civilizing mission. Wajda’s adaptation is an artifact of a particular historical moment in Polish history and culture, reflecting the tragedy of Central and Eastern European countries struggling to find and hold on to their national identities while also compulsively trying, over and over again, and failing to understand its oppressor. This adaptation, when properly understood, is a form of Polish and by extension, Central and Eastern European artifact of its colonial history.

Boguslaw Schaeffer: An Anthology (Oberon Books), 2012

Scenario for Three Actors (Scenariusz dla trzech aktorów) is a metatheatrical play about theatre ... more Scenario for Three Actors (Scenariusz dla trzech aktorów) is a metatheatrical play about theatre and theatre artists: their private conflicts, antics, neuroses, desires, and artistic aspirations humorously deconstructed. Winner of many prestigious international awards, Scenario has been a permanent fixture in many Polish theatres since its premier in 1987. Although it was written in 1970, it took seventeen years for the play to be performed for the first time. It opened at Theatre STU (Theatre of One Hundreds) in Cracow, with Mikolaj Grabowski (who also directed it), Andrzej Grabowski, and Jan Peszek.

Boguslaw Schaeffer: An Anthology (Oberon Books), 2012

The Quartet for Four Actors ( Kwartet na czterech aktorów) was Schaeffer’s first full-length inst... more The Quartet for Four Actors ( Kwartet na czterech aktorów) was Schaeffer’s first full-length instrumental play. It is written based on Schaeffer’s 1966 text written for MW2. This first version was mostly based on improvisation. It also used fragments of Ionesco’s text “Three Dreams About Schaeffer,” which Ionesco wrote in Schaeffer’s honor. Ionesco’s text is a short microdrama in three parts about a man who tries to control his life: each part is a variation on the same theme. In 1972, Schaeffer composed a musical piece based on the same Ionesco’s text. The full production of Quartet opened on February 24, 1979, at Teatr im. Stefana Jaracza in Łódź under the direction of Mikołaj Grabowski, with Jacek Chmielik, Wojciech Droszczyński, Bogusław Semotiuk, and Paweł Kruk playing the four parts.

Boguslaw Schaeffer: An Anthology (Oberon Books), 2012

'The Monologue for One Non-Existent, but Possible Instrumental Actor' (Scenariusz dla nie istniej... more 'The Monologue for One Non-Existent, but Possible Instrumental Actor' (Scenariusz dla nie istniejącego lecz możliwego aktora instrumentalnego) provides an excellent sampling of Schaeffer’s stylistic range, as it includes monologue, poetry, dialogue, and musical/linguistic arrangements. 'The Monologue' is based on Walter Benjamin’s famous essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Benjamin, a philosopher and cultural theorist, argues that technology, particularly easy mechanical reproduction, diminishes the “aura” of art objects, dissolving their ritualistic aspect and erasing the very notion of “authenticity.” It is also his longest-running performance piece. It was written in 1963, but it didn’t open until 1976, in Cracow, under the patronage of the group MW2, and with Jan Peszek, by then one of Poland’s leading actors, in the title role. Schaeffer wrote the Monologue specifically for Peszek, although Peszek initially resisted Schaeffer’s offer to perform it, as it seemed to him better suited to an academic lecture on contemporary art than to a theatre performance. It took Schaeffer and Peszek eleven years to officially open the show, and he has been performing it ever since.

The Mercurian: A Theatrical Translation Review, 2008

By the time he wrote HereThere, Schaeffer was already a respected and sought-after playwright. He... more By the time he wrote HereThere, Schaeffer was already a respected and sought-after playwright. HereThere is one of his most popular plays, and it represents some typical elements of Schaeffer’s dramaturgy. The play consists of 19 short scenes that take place in a corner café. It is an unconventional love story of two couples. One of them is a pair, described as VOICES, of uneducated wait staff at the café. He is a crude and vulgar macho man with pretenses and an over-inflated ego. She’s a bemused, uncouth kitchen helper dreaming of a prince charming who will save her from an all-too-predictable future, but also, to some degree, from herself. The other couple, HE and SHE, are sophisticated urbanites who regularly visit the café to read and drink coffee. HE is presumably a not very successful writer. SHE is an intellectual with an air of self-importance. Discussing love, death, and fate over their books and coffee, they slowly fall in love. Their story takes place at the front of the café, and it is presented as the main plot. Although the VOICES appear on the stage periodically (mainly to serve the front guests, HIM and HER), their story, on the contrary, takes place in the shadow of what happens Here, at the front of the café. There, backstage in the kitchen, love is a brutal and lonely affair of underdogs. Here, at the forefront of social facade, love is woven from a web of illusions, structured and sustained by conventions and convenience.

Slovo, University College of London, Vol. 20. No. 2., 2008

An analysis and original translation by Dr Magda Romanska of Bogusław Schaeffer's play Dream and ... more An analysis and original translation by Dr Magda Romanska of Bogusław Schaeffer's play Dream and Not: Theatrical Play in the Form of Instrumental Concerto. In her analysis, Romanska elucidates Schaeffer's surreal play about a 'perfect' family imprisoned by its own rhetoric. Written by Schaeffer in 1998, Dream and Not is a play that follows the musical contours of a concerto; scenes are labelled by their Italian musical counterparts and the piece develops in three parts (acts). Romanska's translation, praised by Schaeffer himself, honours the nuance of the original while exposing Schaeffer's work to the English-speaking world.

Toronto Slavic Quarterly, 2004

ALLES is an original play. It has never been performed or published before. This translation is b... more ALLES is an original play. It has never been performed or published before. This translation is based on Schaeffer's own manuscript. The play tells a story of a Bonny-and-Clyde-style couple, a brother and sister, named Alles and Sorella, who team up to play a con trick on a group of job applicants. For Alles, the driving mechanism is the sense of power and self-importance in relationship to those whom he "interviews" for the position of his butler.The applicants are only recognized by numbers. They are dispensable and clueless. Like Ionesco's Rhinoceros, ALLES represents a brute force of iron will with neither scruples nor ethical consideration. A blend of Pirandello's self-referentiality, Beckett's grotesque, Durang's absurd cynicism and Vinaver's social critique of corporate structures, the play is an opus on the modern human condition.

The Theatre Times, 2019

Those who are well adjusted, who view sex as a source of bodily pleasure and intimacy, who prefer... more Those who are well adjusted, who view sex as a source of bodily pleasure and intimacy, who prefer their history and martyrology sacred, and contextualized, will find Slave Play disturbing or perhaps even offensive. Those, on the other hand, who consider sex a human mystery to be explored, who can cope with their history and martyrology only at a safe, meta-ironic distance, will find the play layered enough to be worth their time and mental space. You might even find yourself holding both opinions – maybe even at the same time. There’s no way around it, and the play doesn’t explore or reconcile that discrepancy. On the other hand, therein might lie the rub with all sex theatre. The dramaturgical purpose of sex play is the climax, but the purpose of drama is catharsis . . . Unfortunately, more often than not the two are not congruent . . .

The Theatre Times, 2018

The Wooster Group’s newest production, A Pink Chair (In Place of a Fake Antique), was co-commissi... more The Wooster Group’s newest production, A Pink Chair (In Place of a Fake Antique), was co-commissioned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College as part of the Tadeusz Kantor centennial as a tribute to the famous Polish director. The show premiered at Bard SummerScape Festival in 2017, and after a run in Los Angeles, it opened at the Performing Garage on April 28, 2018. It is based on Kantor’s 1988 piece I Shall Never Return and on his 1944 adaptation of Stanislaw Wyspiański’s The Return of Odysseus.

Cosmopolitan Review: A Transatlantic Review of Things Polish, In English, 2015

The Passenger is based on the 1961 novel by Zofia Posmysz, which depicts her own experiences as a... more The Passenger is based on the 1961 novel by Zofia Posmysz, which depicts her own experiences as an Auschwitz prisoner. The novel was inspired by a 1959 incident on board the Place de la Concorde when, while travelling, Posmysz overheard a German tourist calling out in what seemed a familiar voice. The terror she felt at the thought that she could be faced with her former tormentor prompted Posmysz to try to imagine the situation from the other side, that of the Auschwitz guard who tortured her. In 1959 Posmysz wrote a radio play, Passenger in Cabin 45 (directed by Jerzy Rakowiecki, with Aleksandra Śląska and Jan Świderski), and in 1960, a TV novella, The Passenger (directed by Andrzej Munk, and starring Ryszarda Hanin, Zofia Mrozowska, and Edward Dziewoński), with similar plots about two women, a former guard and a prisoner, travelling on the same ocean liner years after the war ended. Shortly after, Posmysz and Andrzej Munk wrote a screenplay together for the movie version, The Passenger, which was released unfinished after Monk’s death in a car accident in 1961. In 1962 Posmysz released the book version of the story. Weinberg’s opera is based on that book.

HotReview, 2012

But is Mabou Mines’s production really about gender, or is it about something else? What is its t... more But is Mabou Mines’s production really about gender, or is it about something else? What is its true meta-narrative? In Breuer’s take, power is delusory because it is based on unequal physical attributes. Thus, conversely, the “real” power, according to Breuer, is tied to height and physical strength, but most importantly, “real” power, in the Mabou Mines production, is tied to health and disability.