Staging the Future: Lem in Theatre

stanislaw_lem_portret_27.jpg, default, From 'Solaris' by Marcin Wierzchowski, Ludowy Theatre, 2020, photo: Klaudyna Schubert / Ludowy Theatre in Kraków, Staging the Future: Lem in Theatre

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Stanisław Lem enjoyed skiing, watching widescreen films and buying unnecessary things. He wasn’t the biggest fan of trains, sea, asparagus or traditional theatre. But is theatre Lem’s biggest fan?

A list of Lem’s likes and dislikes was published in Przekrój magazine in 1958. It appeared next to the fragment of a criminal-detective story Śledztwo (Investigation). It’s hard to tell what Lem had in mind when referring to ‘traditional theatre’. He was always very sceptical about the adaptations of his books.

Once, he said that Milcząca Gwiazda (First Spaceship of Venus), a screen adaptation of The Astronauts, was a ‘complete flop and a socialist-realist gibberish failure’. Lem had a similar opinion about Solaris as directed by Andriej Tarkowski. ‘I hate this film’, he said, talking to Łukasz Maciejewski, and added that he even tried to stop Tarkowski from using some of his bizarre ideas.

What about theatrical adaptations, like for instance Planet Lem by Adolf Weltschka from Groteska Theatre in Kraków? Lem said that watching the play made him ‘almost content’, because it was made for kids, and you could watch dragons and puppets on stage. ‘At least I didn’t leave the theatre pulling my hair out’, Lem said.

Would he pull it out nowadays, after watching the newest, original adaptations of his prose?

35 years of waiting

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Poster of Jacht Paradise, a play in four acts by Stanisław Lem & Roman Hussarski, directed by Emil Chaberski,1952, Współczesny Theatre in Szczecin, photo: Polish Theatre Encylopaedia

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Lem’s texts went a long and twisted way before they finally reached the stage. The first theatrical adaptation of Solaris was staged 35 years after publication of the book. In the meantime, the book itself was translated into many languages. Tarkowski’s film was nominated to the Golden Palm in Cannes and at the Grand Prix festival. Even though Solaris was incredibly well-known, no one else before Stefan Szlachtycz had ever made a theatrical adaptation.

Thumbnail — Scene from 'Yacht Paradise' by Jadwiga Chojnacka, 1951, Powszechny Theatre in Łódź, on the photo: Olgierd Jacewicz, Zofia Wilczyńska, photo: A.F. Kaczkowski / Polish Theatre Encyclopaedia

The performance took place in 1955 at the Polski Theatre in Szczecin. The preparations for the first performance took place simultaneously with an auction of art works made by prisoners. A West Pomeranian physicist named Janusz Typek consulted on the staging. Unfortunately, a scandal broke out. Adam Opatowicz, the theatre director, barred Szlachtycz from directing the show shortly before its premiere. ‘I was amputated from the performance at the last possible minute. I’m leaving the place crippled by these events’, Szlachtycz said. Ultimately, he accepted the payment for his work and didn’t bring a case against the theatre.

The scandal outshined the performance. Now it’s hard to find a review which doesn’t mention the argument. The reviews are rather critical, but the audience enjoyed the mysterious atmosphere, and the music by Jacek Ostaszewski.

Try not to make a fool out of yourself

Many theatrical directors have lacked an interest in Lem, finding science fiction to be unstageable. ‘Science fiction doesn’t belong on stage. The cosmic genre is for the cinema’, wrote Artur D. Liskowiecki in Kurier Szczeciński (Szczecin Courier).

In 2009, Natalia Korczakowska decided to direct Solaris: Raport (Solaris: A Report). It was made in TR Warszawa and involved the sci-fi writer Jacek Dukaj as consultant. The music was composed by Marcin Masecki. But the play was rather a personal variation on the book. According to Joanna Derkaczew ‘the performance was inspired by so many different books that Solaris got lost in the process’. Jacek Wakar wondered: ‘how can you direct a science fiction theatrical performance and not make a fool out of yourself?’

Of course, nowadays the definition of ‘stageable’ is much broader than it used to be, so 21st-century directors are extremely interested in adapting Lem’s visions. The change of attitude was also caused by the popularisation of speculative academic and artistic thinking, active discourse on the future, an interest in contrafactual narrations, and treating futurology as a tool for communication about the present.

Before it was cool

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Scene from 'Gmach' by Jerzy Zoń, 1989, photo: Janusz Jaremen / Cypriana Kamila Norwida Theatre (Jelenia Góra) / Polish Theatre Encyclopaedia

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Let’s go back in time to the previous century to see who was interested in Lem ‘before it was cool’. The artist who was most actively engaged in adapting Lem’s works was… Józef Grotowski. He was a famous audio director who made more than 50 radio adaptations of Lem’s works. Some of them had even a few episodes (Solaris & Astronauts). A few of Lem’s books never had any other theatrical adaptations apart from the ones by Grotowski. That Józef and the famous theatre director Jerzy Grotowski had the same surname is simply a coincidence. However, the men worked together on two audios for the Polish Radio: Małżeństwo (Marriage) and Kredowe Koło (Chalk Circle).

The 20th century didn’t bring us many performances based on Lem’s texts. Nevertheless, Yacht Paradise from 1951 is a particular case. It is Lem’s theatrical play written for a contest organised by Czytelnik publishing house. He wrote it together with a sculptor named Roman Hussarski. The performance was staged three times in the 1950s. The first performance was directed by Witold Koweszko and staged in Opole Theatre. The play has four acts, and it was written at the time when the Second World Congress of the Guardians of Peace took place in Warsaw (16-21 November 1950). The play was an anti-imperialist satire of America.

Infants in the audience

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Scene from 'Solaris', directed by Stefan Szlachtycz, assistant director: Zbigniew Filary, 1995, Polski Theatre, Szczecin, on the photo: Karol Gruza & Ewa Woszczyńska, photo: Wojtek Jabłoński / Teatr Polski, Szczecin / Polish Theatre Encylopaedia

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Theatrical adaptations of Lem have often been aimed at children. In 1963, Zofia Jarema got interested in the role of Professor Tarantoga, who was the main character of a few stories by Lem. Kazimierz Mikulski created the scenography for Tarantoga in Groteska Theatre. Two years later, the Pleciuga Puppet Theatre in Szczecin staged The Advisers of King Hydrops. It was directed by Krzysztof Niesiołowski, the pedagogue and puppet theatre director.

In 1970, Andrzej Rozhin directed Planet Eden in Kubuś Theatre in Lublin. According to Marek Waszkiel, the performance was the hit of the season. As Wiera Korneluk wrote in Sztandar Ludu: ‘even infants wanted to join the audience’.

In January 1989, Jerzy Zoń, the leader of the legendary KTO Theatre, got interested in Memoirs Found in a Bathtub. He made an adaptation of the text – a theatrical play titled Gmach (Edifice). The scenography was strict; there were metal lockers and a scaffold on stage. The soundtrack consisted of popular scouting songs by Irena Santor. Dorota Krzywicka, writing for Echo Krakowa (Kraków Echo), was very enthusiastic about the performance:

Text

‘Gmach’ is filled with bizarre creatures drawn into numerous abnormal relationships, but this surrealistic nonsensical jumble lets us discover a certain truth about our universe. A simple and prickly play. Bravo, Mr. Zoń.
Trans. SS

Just like Leonardo

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Scene from 'Futurological Congress' by Agnieszka Jakimiak, photo: Piotr Nykowski / www.pozaokiem.info / Współczesny Theatre, Szczecin / Współczesny Theatre, Wrocław

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What did the 20th century mean to Lem? Radio and TV adaptations, and a lot of puppet theatre performances. In the present millennium, the texts finally hit fertile ground. In 2018, Agnieszka Olsten directed Fables for Robots in collaboration with the visual artist Olaf Brzeski and the composer Aleksandra Gryka. Jadwiga Hernik-Spalińska, in her review, wrote that ‘the director had a brilliant idea to dust off Lem, who is the most relevant author in the present times’. She even compared Lem to Leonardo da Vinci, noticing that ‘his visions come true, one by one’.

'Fables for Robots' by Stanisław Lem Through the Eyes of Estonian Illustrators – Image Gallery

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In 2020, Lem’s works started to reign the stage. This was probably because of the upcoming anniversary of the writer’s birthday and his patronage year. Klaudia Hartung directed Solaris: Wspomnienie z Przyszłości. (Solaris: A Memory from the Future) for Ochota Theatre. She admitted that some parts of the novel made it ‘almost unstageable’. Another adaptation of Solaris was directed by Marcin Wierzchowski. Its premiere in Ludowy Theatre was postponed because of the pandemic. Wierzchowski, speaking for Polskie Radio, said that ‘we were all placed in Solaris during the pandemic’.

In December 2020, Magda Szpecht directed Lem’s last novel – Fiasco. Jan Simon was responsible for the costumes, scenography and video, and the dramaturgy was by Agnieszka Jakimiak, who also directed Futurological Congress in 2021. Her adaptation, made in collaboration with Mateusz Atman, connects Lem’s visions with the director’s speculations, from which they cannot be easily distinguished. It’s not an attempt to transport literature on stage, but to use Lem’s text as a reflection on the present and on future desires. Agnieszka Jakimiak, speaking for Polskie Radio, speculated about Lem’s opinion on the performance:

Text

I hope Lem would be content with our attempt to translate his language into the language of modern times. I think that even if he didn’t like what we’ve done, he would want to discuss our affirmative attitude towards anarchy and any other lack of discipline.
Trans. SS

Originally written in Polish, translated by SS, Sep 2021

Sources: ‘Współcześni Polscy Pisarze i Badacze Literatury: Słownik Bibliograficzny’, (Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, Warsaw, 1997); ‘Współczesne Adaptacje Teatralne Dzieł Stanisława Lema’, broadcast of the First Polish Radio programme; ‘Święty Spokój’ – Łukasz Maciejewski in conversation with Stanisław Lem (solaris.lem.pl); encyklopediateatru.pl; dziennikteatralny.pl; filmpolski.pl; przekroj.pl.

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