Translated by Awiszaj Hadari, adapted for the stage and directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski, premiered on October 6, 2003, at the Wroclaw Film Studio.
THE DYBBUK by Szymon Ansky and Hanna Krall, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski, has for months been one of the most hotly expected theatre events in Poland. The production will premiere on October 6 during Wroclaw's MIEDZYNARODOWY FESTIWAL TEATRALNY "DIALOG" / "DIALOGUE" INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL (more about the event...).
Audiences were due to see the production for the first time at this year's Avignon Theatre Festival. The premiere was cancelled, however, when French technical workers went on strike and the entire Avignon program was abandoned. THE DYBBUK will be performed at the "DIALOGUE" Festival, specifically on a sound stage of the Wroclaw Film Studio.
It is in this studio that the love story of Lea and Hanan, the heroes of Ansky's drama, will unfold alongside a narrative about the characters from Hanna Krall's 's short story. In the production, Krzysztof Warlikowski combines the world of the Hassidim and their beliefs with events set in contemporary times. The element common to both realms is the Dybbuk - someone dear who has passed away and whose spirit becomes someone's companion for life. In Ansky's play, Lea is haunted by the spirit of her lover. The Dybbuk in Krall's short story is a small boy who was murdered in the Warsaw Ghetto. His father, a survivor of the Holocaust, has gone to the United States where a second son has been born to him. It is before this young American that the Dybbuk appears.
"If Poles don't adopt a new way of thinking about Jews, we will never be at peace with ourselves. Anything we say will be dishonest. Theatre will be dishonest," the production's director Krzysztof Warlikowski told Piotr Gruszczynski just before the planned French premiere. "'THE DYBBUK' is a new 'FOREFATHERS' EVE'! The Holocaust and literature related to it have opened new paths to spirituality." ("Tygodnik Powszechny", 38/03)
DYBUK / THE DYBBUK based on the text by Szymon Ansky and a short story of the same title by Hanna Krall, translated by Awiszaj Hadari; adapted for the stage and directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski, production designed by Malgorzata Szczesniak, lighting designed by Felice Ross, music by Pawel Mykietyn. Featuring: Magdalena Cielecka, Stanislawa Celinska, Renate Jett (Austria), Irena Laskowska, Maria Lozinska, Orna Porat (Izrael), Andrzej Chyra, Marek Kalita, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Jacek Poniedzialek, Jerzy Senator, Maciej Tomaszewski, Tomasz Tyndyk. A co-production of Wroclawski Teatr Wspolczesny, Teatr Rozmaitosci w Warszawie, Festival d'Avignon, THEOREM.
World premiere: October 6, 2003, at the Wroclaw Film Studio during the "DIALOGUE-WROCLAW 2003" International Theatre Festival.