CONTEMPORARY POLISH AVANT-GARDE THEATRE CORNELL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE, FILM AND DANCE Theatre 140, Fall 2002 Magda Romanska Tuesday and Thursday: 1:25 a.m. - 2:40 a.m. Room: CTA, 124  Phone: 607-227-0050 E-mail: mmr24@cornell.edu Office hours: By appointment Office: Room 420, Center for Theatre Arts, 430 College Ave. Office Hours: by appointment  Course Description Schedule of Readings Course Requirements Bibliography

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Before there was Beckett and Ionesco, there was  Witkacy and Gombrowicz.  Before there was Foreman, there was Kantor.  Before there was Schechner, there was Grotowski.  Polish theatre places among the most innovative and influential in the world theatre.  It influenced not only the now well-know Theatre of the Absurd but also American and European Avant-Garde playwrights and directors.  For years, Jerzy Grotowski was an unofficial patron of the American experimental theatre and the style of Tadeusz Kantor still reigns on European Theatre Festivals. 

September 3

POLISH THEATRE- introduction

EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE IN THE NINETIES

Theory of Pure Form

September 5, 10, 12

• S. I. Witkiewicz,The Madman and the Nun 
• S. I. Witkiewicz,The Crazy Locomotive

• Introduction by Jan Kott in The Madman and the Nun
• The Witkiewicz Reader: His Life and Work  by Daniel Gerould, selections
• "Pure Form in the Theatre," Witkiewicz  (The Witkiewicz Reader)
• "Witkiewicz or The Dialectic Anachronism" by Jan Kott (The Theatre of Essence) 

One page response due: Tuesday, September 10
First three page on paper due: Tuesday, September 17

September 17, 19, 24, 26

• W. Gombrowicz, Princess Ivona - picture from Polish production
• W. Gombrowicz, The Marriage

• "Witold, Witold, Witold: Performing Gombrowicz" by Alen Kucharski (Gombrowicz's grimaces : modernism, gender, nationality)
• "Introduction" by Jan Kott in The Marriage
• "On Gombrowicz" by Jan Kott (The Theatre of Essence)

One page response due: Thursday, September 19
 
 
 

October 1, 3, 8
 

• T, Rozewicz, Index Card
• T, Rozewicz, Mariage Blanc

• Tadeusz Rozewicz by Martin Esslin ( The Theatre of the Absurd)
• "Rozewicz's Dramaturgy: Context and Method" and "Subverting a Heroic Myth" in Laboratory of Impure Forms: The Plays of Tadeusz Rozewicz  by Halina Filippwicz

October 10, 17, 22 (October 15 - Fall Break)

• S. Mrozek, Tango
• S. Mrozek, The Striptease

• Slawomir Mrozek by Martin Esslin in The Theatre of the Absurd
• Transcending the Absurd: Drama and Prose of Slawomir Mrozek by Halina Stephan, selections
• "Slawomir Mrozek: The Seeker of Absolutes" by E.J. Czerwincki (Contemporary Polish Theater and Drama)

October  24, 29 

• T. Kantor, The Dead Class
• T. Kantor, The Machine of Love and Death

• "Tadeusz Kantor's Journey" by Jan Klossowicz (The Drama Review, Fall 1986)
• Tadeusz Kantor: A Journey Through Other Spaces: Essays and Manifestos, 1944-1990  transl. by Michal Kobialka 
• "Let the Artists Die? An Interview with Tadeusz Kantor", Michal Kobialka (The Drama Review, Fall 1986)
• The Dead Memory Machine: Theatre of Tadeusz Kantor, by Krzysztof Plesniarewicz, selections.

Third three page paper due: Tuesday, October  29

October 31, November 5

• J. Grotowski,  The Constant Prince
• J. Grotowski,  Apocalypsis Cum Figuris

• Jerzy Grotowski: 1933-1999 by Richard Schechner, selections
• "Grotowski's Laboratory Theatre: Dissolution and Diaspora" by Robert Findlay and Halina Filipowicz (The Drama Review, Fall 1986)
• "Grotowski's Apocalypse" by Konstanty Puzyna (Theatre Drama Review, 52. 1971)
• "After Grotowski: The End of the Impossible Theatre" by Jan Kott (The Theatre of Essence)

about J. Grotowski

November 7,  12, 14, 19

• J. Glowacki, Hunting Cackroaches
• J. Glowacki, Antigone in New York

• "Streets Paved with Pitfalls HUNTING COCKROACHES" review of Broadway Production by William Henry III (TIME, March 16, 1987) 

Five page outline of the final paper due: Tuesday, November 14

November 21, 26 (November 27 - Thanksgiving Break)

• B. Schaeffer, HereThere
• B. Schaeffer, The Duckie

• "The Theatre of Boguslaw Schaeffer" by M. Romanska

Final paper - 15-20 pages - due: Friday, December 13

Each student is expected to post any two of his three or five page papers (including creative work) to class mailing list (via email) for peer editing. Please, let me know the date you would like to post by September 12.
Each student is encouraged to make two individual appointments with the instructor throughout the semester: one at the midterm and one within the last two weeks of the semester.
The readings are divided into eight sections.   We will spend either one or  two weeks on each section.  Each student is expected to participate actively in class discussions and peer editing.

Writing Assignments:

• 3 one page response papers (informal)
• 3 three page papers (formal - two of them can be developed from any previous paper)
• 1 five page paper (formal - one can be developed from any previous paper)
• final paper (15-20 pages) - can be developed from any previous paper

Late assignments:

• one day - ten percent of the grade deducted
• two days - twenty percent of the grade deducted
• three days - thirty percent of the grade deducted

Final Paper: 

General: 

Your final paper is an argument-based research project structured around the readings we have analyzed in class discussions as well as supplementary readings you will be doing while developing your paper. 

 Topic: 

Because it is a “free” topic, and you are not constrained in your thinking process, I expect you to pick a topic that would inspire you to construct a thoughtful and stimulating analysis.    You are encouraged to incorporate sources from outside the class (books, critical essays, films, and plays you have read in other classes or for yourself) if you think they will add to the fullness of your thought. 

Suggestions for the Topic: 

The topic should focus on one problem we have discussed in class.  You should try to pick no more than three critical viewpoints.  Rather than being a summary of all the works we read, the paper should be an in-depth analysis of a particular issue. The topic can be developed from any previous papers you wrote during the semester. 

Lenght: 

The length of the paper should be approximately 15 pages. 

Formatting: 

The formatting of the paper should follow MLA guidelines.  MLA formatting guidelines are in the writing package you received at the beginning of the semester. 

Bibliography: 

The paper should include bibliography of  all the works you cited and read while working on your paper. 

Deadline: 

The final copy of your paper is due on Dec 10th by 5:00 pm in my mailbox (second floor of CTA building). 
 

Writing Process: 

- IDEA: Email me one paragraph about your topic idea.  The paragraph does not have to be very specific, but I want to know which direction you are going. 

-  READINGS: After reading your topic idea, I will email you a reading list of supplementary works pertaining specifically to your topic. 

-  ARGUMENT: After finishing all your readings, email me five major points you would like to focus on in your paper and one paragraph pertaining to your thesis. 

-  OUTLINE: After receiving my feedbacks you will write your five page OUTLINE.  It should include your first paragraph, your major and minor points, and your bibliography. 

- FINAL PROJECT PARTNERS: After reading your outline, I will assign you a final project partner.  You partner will be working either on similar topic to yours or on completely opposite topic.  I want you to discuss your ideas with your partner outside of class either in person or via email. 

-  FIRST DRAFT: First draft should be approximately 8-10 pages long and it should include all of the ideas you would like to talk about it your paper.   The draft dhas to show a clear and lucid progression of your ideas.  You should make an appointment with me at this point. 

-  SECOND DRAFT: After receiving my comments on your draft, you will rewrite your paper and show your second draft to your final project partner. 
 
 

Grading: 
25% - class participation 
35% - final paper 
10 % - five page paper 
20% - three page papers (10% each) 
10% - one page response papers 

BIibliography:

General:

1. Czerwinski, Contemporary Polish Theatre and Drama, 1957-1984 (Greenwood Publishing).
2. Gerould, Daniel.  Twentieth-Century Polish Avant-Garde Drama (Cornell University Press). 
3. Kott, Jan. The Theatre of Essence. 
4. Esslin, Martin, The Theatre of Absurd: Eastern Europe
5. Folejewski, Zbigniew.  “The Theatre of Ruthless Metaphor: Polish Theatre Between Marxism and Existentialism” (Comparative Drama: Theatre of the Absurd: Slavic and Western, Vol III, Number 3, Fall 1969).
6. POLAND: From the Love Affair with Communism to Theatre under Martial Law (The Drama Review, Fall 1986).

Stanislaw Witkiewicz:

7. Witkiewicz, Stanislaw, Madman and the Nun and Other Plays (Applause)
8. Witkiewicz, Stanislaw, The Mother and Other Unsavory Plays (Applause)
9. Witkiewicz, Stanislaw. Country House (Gordon & Breach Publishing). 
10. Gerould, Daniel.  The Witkiewicz Reader: His Life and Work (Northwestern University Press). 
11. "Witkiewicz or The Dialectic Anachronism" by Jan Kott (The Theatre of Essence)
12. Witkiewicz. Stanislaw.  Insantiability (Northwestern University Press). 
13. Witkiewicz, Stanislaw. Witkacy Metaphysical Portraits: Photographs 1910-1939 (Robert Miller Gallery).

Witold Gombrowicz:

14. Gombrowicz, Witold,  Ivona, Princess of Burgunda (Calder and Boyars)
15. Gombrowicz, Witold, The Marriage and Other Plays (Applause) 
16. Gombrowicz, Witold.  Cosmos and Pornographia: Two Novels (Grove/Atlantic). 
17. Gombrowicz, Witold.  Ferdydurke (Yale University Press). 
18. Gombrowicz, Witold. Diary: Vol 1-3. (Northwestern University Press).
19. Gombrowicz. Witold. Trans-Atlantyk (Yale University Press). 
20. Plonowska Ziarek, Ewa. Gombrowicz's grimaces : modernism, gender, nationality (State University of New York Press).
21. Berressem, Hanjo. Lines of Desire: Reading Gombrowicz’s Fiction with Lacan (Northwestern University Press). 

Tadeusz Rozewicz:

22. Rozewicz. Tadeusz.  The Trap (vol 1-4) (Gordon & Breach Publishing).
23. Rozewicz, Tadeusz. A Dream/an Excursion to the Museum (Routledge). 
24. Rozewicz, Tadeusz.  The Room (Marion Boyars).
25. Rozewicz, Tadeusz.  Reading the Apocalypse in Bed: Selected Plays and Short Pieces (Marion Boyars). 
26. Rozewicz, Tadeusz. Card Index (Marion Boyars). 
27. Rozewicz, Tadeusz.  Marriage Blanc and the Hunger Artists Departs: Two Plays (Marion Boyars).
28. Rozewicz, Tadeusz. Unease (New Rivers Press). 
29. Fillipowicz, Halina. Laboratory of Impure Forms: The Plays of Tadeusz Rozewicz (Greenwood Publishing). 

Slawomir Mrozek:

30. Mrozek, Six Plays, trans. Nicolas Bethell (Grove Press, 1993). 
31. Stephan, Haline.  Transcending the Absurd: Drama and Prose of Slawomir Mrozek (Rodopi).
32. Czerwincki, "Slawomir Mrozek: The Seeker of Absolutes" (Contemporary Polish Theater and Drama)

Tadeusz Kantor:

33. Kobialka. Michal. Tadeusz Kantor: A Journey Through Other Spaces: Essays and Manifestos, 1944-1990 (University of California Press). 
34. "Tadeusz Kantor's Journey" by Jan Klossowicz (The Drama Review, Fall 1986)
35. Kantor, Tadeusz. Wielopole-Wielopole. (Marion Boyars).
36. "Let the Artists Die? An Interview with Tadeusz Kantor", Michal Kobialka (The Drama Review, Fall 1986)
37. Plesniarewicz, Krzysztof. The Dead Memory Machine: Theatre of Tadeusz Kantor (Cricoteka, Cracow). 

Jerzy Grotowski:

38. Schechner, Richard. The Grotowski Sourcebook (Routledge).
39. Richards, Thomas. A Work With Grotowski on Physical Actions (Routledge).
40. Wolford, Lisa.  Grotowski’s Objective Drama Research (University Press of Mississippi). 
41. "Grotowski's Laboratory Theatre: Dissolution and Diaspora" by Robert Findlay and Halina Filipowicz (The Drama Review, Fall 1986)
42. "Grotowski's Apocalypse" by Konstanty Puzyna (Theatre Drama Review, 52. 1971)
43. "After Grotowski: The End of the Impossible Theatre" by Jan Kott (The Theatre of Essence)

Janusz Glowacki:

44. Glowacki, Janusz, Antigone in New York (Samuel French)
45. Glowacki, Janusz. Hunting Cacroaches and Other Plays (Northwestern University Press). 
 

mmr24@cornell.edu