25th Next Wave Festival Brooklyn Academy of Music Alan H. Fishman William I. Campbell Chairman of the Board Vice Chairman of the Board Karen Brooks Hopkins Joseph V. Melillo President Executive Producer presents Krum by Hanoch Levin Approximate BAM Harvey Theater running time: Oct 17-20, 2007 at 7:30pm two hours, 45 minutes, TR Warszawa no intermission Co-produced by Stary Teatr (C racow) Directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski Translation by Jacek Poniedzialek Set and costume design by Malgorzata Szcz~sniak lighting design Felice Ross Music Pawe/ Mykietyn Film Pawel toziriski Performed in Polish with English titles BAM 25th Next Wave Festival is sponsored by Altria Group, Inc. Major support for Krum is provided by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, with additional support from the Polish Cultural Institute in New York and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland. Leadership support for BAM Theater is provided by The Shubert Foundation, Inc., The SHS Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Francena T. Harrison Foundation Trust, with major support from Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; and additional support from Billy Rose Foundation, Inc. Krum Cast Krum Jacek Poniedzialek Krum 's Mother Malgorzata Roiniatowska Truda Magdalena Cielecka Dupa Malgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik Felicia Anna Radwan-Gancarczyk Cica Danuta Stenka Tugati Redbad Klijnstra Takhtikh Marek Kalita Dulce Zygmunt Malanowicz Bertoldo Adam Nawojczyk Shkita Pawel Kruszelnicki Dr. Shiboigen, Male Nurse, Photographer, Barber, Undertaker Miron Hakenbeck Hanoch Levin's leading character, Krum , returns to his home city where he is welcomed by his mother, friends, and the community. But the world he faces is afflicted with a kind of paralysis, as if the reality to which he's returning has ceased moving in expectation of something yet to happen to unleash a course of events. And so it happens, but the characters' actions are chaotic and waking life is temporary, based on a recurrent rhythm of births, weddings, and funerals . Krum seems to be the most passive of all characters. Somebody else is getting married, somebody else dies, somebody else takes a trip. Perhaps in this way, the different variants of his life are fulfilling. As a spectator temporarily suspending his identity and totally convincing in the illusion , Krum-as in the dream-observes, in the form of theatrical performance, a catalogue of his own dreams and fears. Hanoch Levin (1943-1999), born in Tel Aviv, is considered one of most fascinating Israeli playwriters. He has studied philosophy and Hebrew literature at university in Tel Aviv. Of his more than 50 plays, most have been presented both in Israel and in international theater festivals. Hi s writings include comedies, tragedies, and satirical pieces as well as novels, poetry, and children's literature. Levin directed most of his own plays. His writing career began with poetry, but he became famous for his series of satirical works, You and Me and Next War (1968). Levin worked for years at Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv as the dramaturg. He directed at City Theatre in Haifa and at Han Theatre in Jerusalem. His plays received awards both in Israel and abroad, including an award from the prestigious Edinburgh Festival. His most popular plays include Krum (1975), Yisorei Iyov (1981), Melechet Hachaim (1989), Hazona Meohio (1996), and Murder (1997). Co-produced by TR Warszawa and Stary Teatr (Cracow) Premiere-March 3,2005 TR Warszawa, and March 12,2005 Stary Teatr (Cracow) TR Warszawa ul. Marszalkowska 8, 00-590 Warsaw e-mail: [email protected] / Internet: www.trwarszawa.pl General and artistic director Grzegorz Jarzyna Who's Who KRZYSZTOF WAR LI KOWSKI Born 1962 in Szczecin EDUCATION 1981-89 studied History, Philosophy, and Roman Philology at Jagiellonian University, Cracow 1984 studied History of Greek Theatre at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes en Sorbonne, Paris 1989-93 studied Stage Directing at National School of Drama, Cracow 1992-93 assistant to Peter Brook on his work with the production of Claude Debussy's Impressions de Pelleas at BOUFFES DU NORD , Paris. MAJOR THEATER WORKS The Marquise von 0 by H. Kleist at STARY TEATR , Cracow The Merchant of Venice by W. Shakespeare at TEATR HORZYCY, Torun Ludwig-Tod eines Koenigs based on Klaus Mann at KAMMERSPIELE, Hamburg Roberto Zucco by B. M. Koltes at TEATR NOWY, Poznan Clown Wanted by M. Visniec at STARY TEATR, Cracow Electra by Sophocles at TEATR DRAMATYCZNY, Warsaw The Winter's Tale by W. Shakespeare at TEATR NOWY, Poznan The Taming of the Shrew by W. Shakespeare at TEATR DRAMATYCZNY, Warsaw Pericles by W. Shakespeare at PICCOLO TEATRO, Milan Quai Ouest by B. M. Koltes at GAVELA, Zagreb and TEATR STUDIO, Warsaw Phoenician Women by Euripides at BEER SHEVA THEATRE, Israel Twelfth Night by W. Shakespeare at STAATSTHEATER, Stuttgart Hamlet by W. Shakespeare at TEATR ROZMAITOSCI, Warsaw The Tempest by W. Shakespeare at STAATSTHEATER , Stuttgart and TEATR ROZMAITOSCI , Warsaw The Bacchae by Euripides at TEATR ROZMAITOSCI , Warsaw Cleansed by Sarah Kane at TEATR WSPOtCZESNY, Wroclaw with TEATR ROZMAITOSCI, Warsaw and TEATR POLSKI, Poznan A la recherche du temps perdu based on M. Proust at SCHAUSPIEL, Bonn A Midsummer Night's Dream by W. Shakespeare at THEATRE DE NICE, France The Dybbuk by Ansky and Hanna Krall at TEATR ROZMAITOSCI, Warsaw Speaking in Tongues by A. Bovell at TONEELGROEP AMSTERDAM , Holland Macbeth by W. Shakespeare at SCHAUSPIELHANNOVER , Hannover Krum by H. Levin at TR WARSZAWA (former TEATR ROZMAITOSCI) Madame de Sade by Yukio Mishima at TONNELGROEP AMSTERDAM, Holland Angels in America by Tony Kushner at TR WARSZAWA (former TEATR ROZMAITOSCI) OPERA The Music Programme by Roxanna Panufnik at TEATR WIELKI-OPERA NARODOWA, Warsaw Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi at TEATR WIELKI-OPERA NARODOWA, Warsaw The Ignorant and the Madman by Pawel Mykietyn at TEATR WIELKI-OPERA NARODOWA, Warsaw Tatooed Tongues by Martjin Padding at THE FESTIVAL, WARSZAWSKA JESIEN , Warsaw Ubu Rex by Krzysztof Penderecki at TEATR WIELKI-OPERA NARODOWA, Warsaw Wozzeck by Alban Berg at TEATR WIELKI-OPERA NARODOWA, Warsaw Iphigenie en Tauride by Christoph Willibald Gluck at OPERA GARNIER, Paris L'Affaire Makropoulos by Leos Janacek at OPERA NATIONAL DE PARIS Who's Who FESTIVALS AND PRESENTATIONS Hamlet: Divadelna Nitra (Slovakia), Holland Festiva l (Amsterdam), Avignon Festival The Bacchae: Europalia (Antwerpen), Dialog (Wroclaw) Cleansed: Avignon Festival , Divadelna Nitra , FTA (Montreal), "Interpretations" Festival of the Art of Directing in Katowice (Poland) , Baltic House (St. Petersburg), Theatre Forms (Leipzig), Festiwal festiwali (Warsaw), BITEF (Belgrade), and presentations at Oskaras Korsunovas Th eatre-Vilnius, Hebbel-Berlin, tournee in France; Seou l Performing Arts Festival (South Korea) A la recherche du temps perdu : Theater der Welt (Bonn) The Tempest: Festival of Shakespeare in Gdansk (Poland), Hebbel- Berlin Ubu Rex: Sadler's Wells- London The Dybbuk: Dialog (Wroclaw), Avignon Festival, Hebbel- Berlin , Nova Polska at Bouffes du Nord (Paris), and Theatre National (Strasbourg), BAM (New York), Paradise Regained (Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groeningen), Festival of Four Cultures (Lodz, Poland) , tournee in France, Th eatre de la Pl ace, Liege (Belgium), Festiva l Intern aciona l de Buenos Aires Macbeth: Th eaterformen (Hannover) Krum: Hebbel-Berlin; Pal ermo; Avignon Festiva l, 6th Interpretations Festiva l of the Art of Directing in Katowice , Kunstfest Weimar, Moscow; tour to France, Lisbon Angels in America: Avignon Festival, Dialog (Wroc!aw) AWARDS BEST FOREIGN PERFORMANCE IN FRANCE IN 2002 for Cleansed LAUR KONRADA for the best director at Festival of the Art of Directing in Katowice for Cleansed, 2003 BEST PERFORMANCE OF SHAKESPEARE IN POLAND IN 2003, "Gold Yorrik" at the Shakespeare Festi va l in Gdansk for The Tempest BEST PERFORMANCE-"WARSAW FELI X" for The Tempest, 2003 PASZPORT POLITYKI 2003 OFFICIER DE t:ART ET DES LETIRES (France), 2004 POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER AWARD FOR POPULARIZATION OF POLISH CULTURE IN THE WORLD,2004 GOLD ORDER OF 300 YEARS OF ST. PETERSBURG , 2004 MEYER HOLD AWARD FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS IN DIRECTING, 2006 THE X EUROPE PRIZE NEW THEATRICAL REALITIES, 2007 Krum Sadness and Hilarity of Passing over death . In Krum it has no such powers whatsoever. Wedding receptions resemble funeral It was a mesmerizing show, teamwork of actors banquets, and the home life of spouses turns of TR Warszawa and Stary Teatr in Cracow who, into hell and aggravates suffering. Beautiful in an ironic way, showed us the ugliness of love­ Truda (Maja Ostaszewska) is consumed by the deprived life. obsession of her fading beauty. Her husband, Takhtikh (Marek Kalita) is a transvestite going Krzysztof Warlikowski has accustomed us to through his personal drama. Dupa (Malgorzata great myths of our culture-Dionysus, Prospero, Hajewska-Krzysztofik) cannot forget about her Hamlet, contemporary incarnations of Caliban, own ugliness in the arms of Tugati-ill with Ariel, and dybbuk. Using new dramaturgy, he cancer (Redbad Klijnstra) and Krum's mother presented individuals at odds with life and broke (Stanislawa Celinska) cannot accept her son's taboos. In this light, characters of his latest play failure. Only Cica (Danuta Stenka) is able to are shockingly trivial, like in a TV soap opera. convince herself and the others that she made The title character (Jacek Poniedzialek) is an it in the big world. She was the only one to anti-hero. He comes back from world travels to understand that mortals have to seize the day his hometown with a suitcase full of dirty clothes and take life as it comes. and does not even try to hide his failure. The only thing that possibly makes him stand out is his It is the first time that dramatic and comic determination to remain nobody in life. Levin's character of events had been equally important play is connected to previous Warlikowski's plays in Warlikowski's theater. This creates the effect by the topic of love.