Theatrical place

A model for the performance of “Return of Odysseus” Private collection

“With no division into the stage and the house. T h e  r e a l  p l a c e: a  d e v a s t a t e d  r o o m. Wartime. It is to these ruins and not to a theatrical “c o u n t e r f e i t” of the sunny island of Ithaca that Ulysses (in Wyspiański’s play) returns. In these ruins the spectators are sitting. They are waiting. The time of war (our war of the 40s) and this devastated  p l a c e (in Cracow) leave their impress on the classical story. The first “environment” in the modern art. The spectator is not looking at a work of art, but is inside it.”

Halczak, Anna and Pleśniarowicz, Krzysztof (ed.). Tadeusz Kantor. Przedmioty, klisze pamięci… [Tadeusz Kantor. Objects, Celluloid of Memory…] Wrocław: BWA, 1990, p. 12.