Around contemporary Polish dramatic art

Abstract

Polish contemporary drama (which is represented by a range of authors, from Tadeusz Różewicz and Sławomir Mrożek, Janusz Głowacki, Wiesław Myśliwski, Eustachy Rylski, Marek Koterski and Tadeusz Słobodzianek to Przemysław Wojcieszek, Michał Walczak, Piotr Tomaszuk, Tomasz Man and Dorota Masłowska) seems to be an integral part and a special, local manifestation of profound changes that have taken place in the European and American drama of the 20th and 21st centuries. Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Tennessee Williams, Harold Pinter, John Osborne and Edward Albee influenced Polish dramaturgy, i.e. its general concept and philosophy, in many ways. They were pioneers and patrons of this transformation, just as Miron Białoszewski was in Poland. New Polish dramaturgy continues to go in this direction while looking for modern means of theatrical expression. Marek Hendrykowski examines and describes twenty-one contemporary dramas that are collected in two volumes titled Trans/formacja. Dramat polski po 1989 roku [Trans/formation: An Anthology of Polish Contemporary Drama after 1989], which were edited by Jacek Kopciński. The author of this article searches for features and “common places” (loci communes) that are typical of this form of art.