Michael Handelzalts_A visitor from the borderlands between theater and life. 'Haaretz' 21.5.2014-part 2 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Skenè. Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies, 2020
How can one construct a dignified theatrical heritage in a culture with no dramatic canon, on-going theatrical institution or government support? Is it possible to create modernist theatre in a social environment eager for cheap entertainment? In this article I strive to address these questions through a close look at two multi-layered performances staged at the Warsaw Tsentral Teater (Central Theatre) in the 1923-1924 season: Serkele and Der priziv (The Military Conscription). The theatrical events discussed in this paper, I argue, complicate and challenge Diana Taylor’s influential theory of "The Archive and the Repertoire," and the common binaries on which she draws, such as “The West” vs. the “subaltern” or the colonizer vs. the colonized.
Nonsurvivor Testimony: Terezín Ghetto Theatre in the Archive and the Second Czech Cabaret
Theatre Survey, 2007
As survivors of the Holocaust grow older, the mission of organizations that collect and preserve their testimony becomes increasingly urgent. The importance of that testimony cannot be underestimated, especially since, in cases where Nazi records were destroyed, the survivors' narratives may provide the only information regarding prisoners' experience of the ghettos and concentration camps. Lisa Peschel is a doctoral candidate in theatre historiography at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her dissertation is entitled "Theatrical Performance in the Terezín Ghetto: Survivor Testimony and the Construction of Experience, 1945-2005." She was recently awarded a grant from the Austrian Fund for the Future to publish an annotated volume of Czech-and German-language theatrical texts from Terezín. I would like to thank Hana Lojínová and Zdeněk Prokeš for bringing the cabaret to my attention; and the Prokeš family and Pavel Stránský for permission to publish the translation and illustrations. I also extend my gratitude to the survivors of Terezín and their friends who have helped me decipher the text, as well as to my colleagues in the Czech Republic who have answered my many inquiries. Finally, I am grateful to Jody Enders for her ongoing support and advice during the preparation of this article, to Dennis Beck for reviewing the translation, and to Alan Sikes for our performance projects, which have brought Terezín texts back to the stage and into the world of the living.
Łaźnia Nowa Theatre: Social Change in the Making
2016
The article attempts to illustrate the actions taken by Łaźnia Nowa Theatre in Krakow to incorporate amateurs in theatre activities. The authors take the example of two projects – ‘Participations’ and ‘University of Looking’ – searching for the links between cultural activity and development in a social and economic respect. The authors explore the question of how, through its impact on the participants (senior citizens, troubled youth), theatre affects the social fabric, and in so doing realises its statutory mission, which includes working to revitalise Nowa Huta. The article was based on analysis of the project documentation as well as discussions (individual in-depth interviews and focus group interviews) with the participants of the two ventures described – amateurs, actors and organisers from Łaźnia Nowa. Confronting the opinions of all interested parties made it possible to draw conclusions on the strengths and weaknesses of the two projects. The article and research were par...
, the premiere of Nie-Boska komedia. Szczątki [The Un-Divine Comedy: Remains] as directed by Oliver Frljić was to take place at the National Stary Theatre in Kraków, one of the most esteemed Polish theatres, with its impressive tradition built by the greatest Polish theatre directors of the twentieth century. The premiere did not take place: less than two weeks before hand, the director of the Stary, Jan Klata, suspended work on the production. It was-at least this is how I understand this event-the most drastic act of censorship in theatre in the twenty-five year history of Polish democracy since the abolition of the communist system and delegalisation of preventive censorship. 1 This situation was brought about by the convergence of many factors and can be ascribed to the historical context of Poland's past and that of Polish theatre, as well as to current Polish affairs and social tensions or it is not simple to map them out in a way that can be understood by non-Polish readers, but it is worth the effort because the case of The Un-Divine Comedy: Remains markedly exposes the conjunction of ideology, power and aesthetic fundamentals in Polish theatre, while pointing to the political potential connected to its exposure and transgression. This potential arises from the form of political theatre made by director Oliver Frljić. My essay will focus on the reconstruction of this radical concept in the context of the cancelled production in Kraków. Let me start by relating the situation of Jan Klata, whose appointment as director of the Stary Theatre in January 2013 drew negative responses from right-wing and conservative circles in Kraków. Klata is considered one of the young 'barbarians' of theatre who have introduced radical aesthetics, ruining the high standards of Polish theatre-though as a matter of fact Klata's progressive language of performance often hides surprisingly conservative messages, as shown in this issue of PTJ in Monika Kwaśniewska's article. Klata's plans for the Stary Theatre, 1 Six months later, another act of preventive censorship took place in theatre in Poland: at the Malta festival in Poznań, Golgotha Picnic under the direction of Rodrigo Garcia was called off under pressure from ultra-Catholic and right-wing groups supported by Catholic Church. This act of censorship was met with mass grassroots citizen protests across Poland, with public readings and screenings of the censored production taking place. During this subsequent censorship conflict, the dangerous precedent set at the Stary Theatre under consideration in this article, where pressure by right-wing and nationalist circles had influenced the decision of the director to cancel the Frjlic production, were often mentioned in the press.
Jewish Theatre in Poland as an Institution of Nationality, Education and Intercultural Dialogue
Philosophy, Communication, Media Sciences, 2016
The aim of the paper is to discuss the function of Jewish theatre in Poland 1 as an institution promoting the knowledge of the Jewish culture and tradition and stimulating intercultural Polish-Jewish dialogue through ages. It focuses on the theatrical activities and their intellectual, social, political and cultural contexts. It shows relevance of the theatre's works for academic researches and institutional structure for the study of East European Jewry. Finally, it discusses the impact of the Jewish theatre on the identity of the local Jewish communities, analyzing the creation of theatre's self-image as cultural and educational institution in various historical periods.
2008
Abstract The main aim of this research project is to investigate the power of theatrical storytelling and image over children’s everyday lives, examining theatrical performances by and for children in the Theresienstadt ghetto during World War II. The historical research develops based on the unique case of the ‘model ghetto-town’ of Theresienstadt (Terezín) in former Czechoslovakia, which, being neither a ghetto neighbourhood within a city nor a concentration-extermination camp, is recognised today as a huge ‘workshop’ where all manner of art was developed under occupation. This study focuses on children’s theatrical creation and explores the dynamics of theatrical action, storytelling and scenography in children’s lives under these specific coercive conditions. The elements of theatrical performance produced by and for the young inmates in the ghetto are documented by original diary entries, notes, posters, drawings and archival testimony from survivors, as well as by a series of original interviews with Theresienstadt survivors conducted as part of this study. The research provides the first detailed documentation of children’s performances in Theresienstadt as well as an in-depth analysis of the staging of the two main children’s productions staged between 1941 and 1945: the opera Brundibár and the dance-musical performance Little Fireflies. The researcher’s own artistic identity as a scenographer has been a key element defining the point of view of this study, which also explores how a theatrical/visual metaphor can express the ineffable. Furthermore, the interaction between reality and fantasy through theatre providing ways to experience and deal with reality with the support of our imagination is investigated. The effects of theatre on the children of Theresienstadt are examined from four points of view, i.e. from a cultural, educational, sociological and psychological perspective, arguing theatre as a means of enhancing freedom of spirit, as well as enriching children’s upbringing. The thesis concludes with a contemporary evaluation of the research results pertaining to this part of European cultural and theatrical history, pointing to the important function of theatre as a motivating power providing spiritual support in life.