The event, which runs until October 19, features a diverse array of performances that span the writer’s rich dramatic legacy, including The Marriage, Yvona, Princess of Burgundia, and an adaptation of his novel Pornography.
The festival draws an international lineup, with theater companies from Poland, Kosovo, Japan, Argentina, and the United States. Notably, LaMama Theater from New York, Iceberg Teatro from Buenos Aires, and Chiten Theatre from Kyoto are among the groups bringing Gombrowicz’s work to life on stage.
Argentina holds a special place in the festival, reflecting Gombrowicz’s close ties to the country where he lived from 1939 to 1963 after emigrating from Poland just before World War II. Iceberg Teatro’s adaptation of Pornography is one of the highlights, alongside America, a production by the Polski Theatre from Bydgoszcz. America presents Gombrowicz as a fictional Nobel laureate from Argentina, guiding audiences through a journey into South America and his mysterious new drama.
The festival concludes with a presentation of The Marriage by LaMama Theater on October 19. Written in 1946, the play follows Henry, a soldier who returns from war to find his world in chaos. The production, which premiered last month, is a collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute in New York, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw, and the Jan Kochanowski Powszechny Theater of Radom, the festival’s main organizer.
First launched in 1993, the International Gombrowicz Festival takes place every two years in Radom, not far from Gombrowicz’s family estate in Małoszyce. The region was a significant part of his life, with frequent visits to his brother’s home in Wsola, now a museum dedicated to the writer.
Witold Gombrowicz, one of Poland’s most influential 20th-century writers, left a lasting legacy with his works translated into over thirty languages. As the festival celebrates his genius, 2024 also marks the 120th anniversary of his birth, honoring a literary icon whose impact continues to resonate globally.
(mk/jh)
Source: PAP, Teatr Powszechny w Radomiu