The Afterlives of Mickiewicz’s ‘Forefathers’ Eve’

W więzieniu. "Dziady" Adama Mickiewicza w układzie tekstu i reżyserii Kazimierza Dejmka, Teatr Narodowy w Warszawie, premiera: 25 listopada 1967 roku, fot. Franciszek Myszkowski, default, In the prison. Adam Mickiewicz's 'Forefathers' Eve' directed by Kazimierz Dejmka, National Theatre in Warsaw, premiere: 25 November 1967, photo: Franc

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In ‘Forefathers’ Eve’, Adam Mickiewicz drew on narratives and traditions of the past to articulate a vision of Polishness that spoke to the struggles of the stateless nation. He thus created a drama that would itself become a source of inspiration for future generations. Here, we consider the rich and varied ‘afterlives’ of Mickiewicz’s legendary drama.

Forefathers’ Eve is a sprawling drama – consisting of four parts (one of which is unfinished) loosely connected by themes of summoning spirits during the pagan rites of Forefathers’ Eve. Czesław Milosz described it as ‘a kind of national sacred play’. And indeed, with its reflections on the trauma of lost independence, sacrifice, and Poland’s place in history, Mickiewicz’s work spoke not only to the nation in the period of partition, but also continued to resonate as Poland faced political turmoil and foreign occupation throughout the 20th century. Performances sparked communal joy; they also led to violence on the streets.

Of course, Mickiewicz’s work was not only politically powerful, but also a towering artistic achievement. His language and stories continue to inspire. On stage and screen, in recording studios and video games, Forefathers’ Eve has been rethought, reframed, and reperformed by generations of artists.

A new life on the 20th century stage

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'Lava', directed by Tadeusz Konwicki, 1988, photo: Witold Rozmysłowicz / CAF / PAP

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In the 20th century, Forefathers’ Eve found itself brought to the stage by some of the biggest names in Polish theatre. In 1901, Stanisław Wyspiański – himself a brilliant dramatist who was inspired by the Romantics – produced the first performance of Forefathers’ Eve to bring more than a single scene to the stage. Wyspiański’s merged and shortened version of the work was a success and inspired future stagings, including a grand production by the preeminent pre-war director Leon Schiller in 1932.

Because of its political (particularly anti-Russian) themes, it is perhaps not surprising that the work disappeared from the stage in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. It was not until the political ‘thaw’ that followed the death of Joseph Stalin that Forefathers’ Eve returned to the Polish stage. The first post-war performance, under the direction of Alexander Bardini at the Theatre Polski in Warsaw in 1955, was a night to remember.

Jan Kott described the event:

At the first night of ‘Forefathers’ Eve’ people cried – in the orchestra as well as in the balcony. […] I know of no other drama in the whole of world literature that could move an audience after a hundred and twenty-five years as ‘Forefathers’ Eve’ did. ‘Forefathers’ Eve’ struck home with greater force than any play written since the war, in its historical aspect as well as in its contemporary relevance… Time did not consume the play’s modern spirit, and it still haunts us today. There is dynamite in ‘Forefathers’ Eve’, and it exploded on the first night.

From ‘Theatre Notebook, 1947-1967’ by Jan Kott, trans. Bolesław Taborski

For a nation still rebuilding after the devastation of World War II and in the midst of a new struggle against foreign oppression, Mickiewicz’s text offered a reminder of past battles, spiritual triumphs, and energy for the future.

‘We want Mickiewicz!’

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Statue of Adam Mickiewicz in Warsaw, photo: Marek & Zofia Bazak / East News

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While the 1955 performance of Forefathers’ Eve may have sparked emotions, in 1968, a cancelled performance of the work sparked mass protest. In 1967, a new production of Forefathers’ Eve debuted at the National Theatre in Warsaw under the direction of Kazimierz Dejmek. Zbigniew Raszewski described Dejmek’s production as ‘loyal to Mickiewicz’s original’ and noted that the director ‘dutifully followed the author’s sociological and metaphysical philosophies, though he embellished these with a highly personal interpretation’ (trans. MMP).

Performed for an audience already primed by the rebellious spirit of the era to elevate transgressive aspects of the text, Dejmek’s ‘loyal’ production was cheered for highlighting ‘anti-Russian elements’ in the work – particularly those passages in which Mickiewicz depicts Russian tyranny. This response troubled authorities; and on 30 January 1968, they banned future performances of the show.

In response to the cancellation, students gathered under the statue of Mickiewicz near the University of Warsaw and chanted ‘We want Mickiewicz!’ Adam Michnik recalls the protests as crystalizing a sense of Polishness, reflecting that:

…Everything that had been abstract and theoretical until then was suddenly filling with Polish blood. […] And for the first time I told myself, I’m Polish.

From ‘Letters from Freedom: Post-Cold War Realities and Perspectives’ by Adam Michnik, ed. Irena Grudziński Gross

In the midst of these protests – inspired by the spirit of Mickiewicz and the censorship of his work – Michnik and a fellow student were expelled from the university. The expulsion incited further unrest, which was violently suppressed. Tensions and opposition movements grew and by March of 1968 protests had spread across Poland. Not for the first time, Mickiewicz had found himself at the heart of a popular uprising.

From stage to screen

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'Forefathers' Eve', directed by Radosław Rychcik, photo: Jakub Wittchen

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For half a century now, Poland has been the scene of such ceaseless, unflagging, inexorable cruelty at the hands of the tyrants who oppress Her, and such illimitable devotion and endurance on the part of Her suffering people, as the world has not seen since the days of the persecuted Christians.

From ‘Forefathers’ Eve (Part III)’, by Adam Mickiewicz, trans. Charles Kraszewski

These words, which open ‘Part III’ of Forefathers’ Eve, were written in 1832 and reflect the period of partitions that began in 1772. Over 150 years later, these same words open Tadeusz Konwicki’s 1989 film Lava. In Konwicki’s hands, Mickiewicz’s text resonates both with the past and the present. It’s hard to ignore the significance of ‘half a century’ of ‘cruelty’ when thinking about the years of Soviet domination that began 50 years prior to Konwicki’s film and were in their final days by the time of Lava’s release.

In Lava, Konwicki puts these words into the mouth of an ‘old poet’, a figure who might be read both as a version of Mickiewicz and a reflection of the filmmaker himself. Throughout Konwicki’s career, the author and filmmaker frequently engaged with (and critiqued) the ideas of Polish Romanticism. His return to Mickiewicz’s text offered Konwicki an opportunity to reflect on the Romantic poet and his contemporary relevance.

Of his renewed interest in Forefathers’ Eve, Konwicki recalled:

Somewhere in the mid-1980s, I started thinking of Mickiewicz’s ‘Forefathers’ Eve’ all over again. Not as a grand patriotic work corresponding with the marital law, though. The poem was returning to me from someplace far away…as a contemporary work: poetry written by someone the same age as me.

And thus, one night I reached to a bookshelf behind my sofa and pulled out a tattered volume, used by both my daughters when they went to school. […] What I read struck me as a work of a thoroughly contemporary poet. […] The poet was desperately looking for salvation in his poetry, even though this salvation would forever stay out of his reach.

Tadeusz Konwicki, quoted in ‘Lithuanian Kin’ by Tadeusz Lubelski, trans. Michał Oleszczyk

Forefathers’ Eve, part III, photo: Natalia Kabanow — 'Forefathers' Eve', Part III, directed by Michał Zadara, photo: Natalia Kabanow / Polish Theatre in Warsaw

In Mickiewicz’s reflections on the role of the poet and the power of art, Konwicki found familiar questions. Building on his sense of Forefathers’ Eve as a text that speaks across time, Konwicki’s film moves between period images and scenes of contemporary Poland, visually underscoring the work’s transcendence.

In a casting choice that expanded the historical resonance of the film, Konwicki asked Gustaw Holoubek – who played Gustaw/Konrad in Dejmek’s consequential 1967/68 production – to perform the role of the ‘old poet’. Holoubek delivers the famous ‘Great Improvisation’ in Konwicki’s film, thus reprising his earlier performance and creating a cinematic moment that brings together the distant past, recent struggles, and contemporary reflection.

Though an engaging and provocative reimagining of Mickiewicz’s text, Lava failed to capture the imagination of Polish audiences. Reflecting on the film, Konwicki noted:

In 1969 our elite was ready to give their lives for each performance of ‘Dziady’. Twenty years later, ‘Lava’ did not have much of an audience.

Tadeusz Konwicki, in an interview with Andrzej Werner (Kino 1/1991), trans. EW

Dropping bars & slaying beasts

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A still from the series 'The Witcher', 2019, photo: Netflix

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Given its dramatic form, it’s not surprising that many contemporary evocations of Forefathers’ Eve come on stage and screen. Its impact, however, is certainly not limited to dramatic performance, and Mickiewicz’s text recently has provided material for both popular musicians and video game designers.

Mickiewicz’s influence on musicians began in his own lifetime, with the composer Stanisław Moniuszko setting his words to music. In The Phantoms, for example, Moniuszko conjures the musicality of the pagan rituals described in Forefathers’ Eve. These days, Mickiewicz inspires rockers and rappers. In 1993, the rock band Kult quoted sections of Forefathers’ Eve (Part II) in their song Baranek (Lamb). More recently, Mickiewicz has become a muse for Polish rappers, with Ryszard ‘Peja’ Andrzejewski recording a version of ‘The Great Improvisation’ from Forefather’s Eve in 2015. Of his sense of kinship with the Romantic poet, Peja explained:

I opened the text and right away it came to me like music notes. […] Maybe it came easily for me because I found a lot of my own emotions in this text: conflict with the world and with God, a sense of power, a rejection of authority.

Trans. AA

For those familiar with Mickiewicz’s work, the influence of the poet will be felt in the wildly popular video game (and television series) The Witcher. Based on a book series by Andrzej Sapkowski, the world of The Witcher is rich with echoes of Polish Romanticism. Mickiewicz is referenced a number of times, but perhaps never more clearly than when the titular Witcher, Geralt, attends a Forefathers’ Eve celebration at the invitation of a sorcerer. At the feast, which itself harkens to Mickiewicz’s drama, the sorcerer recites verse that not only mimics Mickiewicz’s metre, but also directly quotes from the famous poet’s work.

Mickiewicz’s evocative verse has also inspired generations of visual artists, who have rendered scenes from the drama, as well as a stunning array of posters for theatrical productions.

810 minutes of Mickiewicz

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Walenty Wańkowicz, 'Portrait of Adam Mickiewicz on Judah Rock', 1828, photo: National Museum in Warsaw

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Despite its extraordinary significance in Polish culture, for almost two centuries Forefathers’ Eve was never staged in its entirety. That changed in 2016, when acclaimed director Michał Zadara brought the unabridged text to the stage of the Polski Theatre in Wrocław. Krzysztof Mieszkowski, the director of the theatre, described the Zadara production as ‘the world premiere of the drama, which for almost two hundred years has been shaping the national identity, values, and imaginations of successive generations of Poles’.

The monumental work led to a monumental production. Forefathers’ Eve is composed of over 6,000 verses. On stage, the performance lasted over 13 hours. It began at noon and continued into the wee hours of the night – and, thankfully, included breaks for lunch and dinner.

In an interview, Zadara explained his aims for the production:

Our goal is to make an impulsive and daring spectacle, because this text is exuberant and cheeky, and deserves a strong performance. Not the nation, not spirituality – but the tragedy of a man who cannot get along with the world around him, who remains a stranger to this world like a ghost among the living.

Michał Zadara, from an interview with Mateusz Węgrzyn, trans. GS

Open to be read as a personal tragedy, a national parable, an artistic inspiration, or an atmospheric ghost story, Forefathers’ Eve seems destined to continue to be remembered and reimagined for generations to come.

_{Sources: ‘Polish Romantic Drama’ by Harold B. Segel (Cornell University Press, 1977); ‘Lithuanian Kin: The Birth of Adaptation Out of the Spirit of Community’ by Tadeusz Lubelski, trans. Michał Oleszczyk (Polish Film Academy, 2013); ‘Peja rymuje Mickiewicza, czyli młodzież poznaje wieszcza ‘ by Paweł Gzyl (DziennikPolski24, 2015); https://www.dwutygodnik.com/artykul/5032-odlewanie-z-brazu.html; culture.pl}

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