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Tadeusz Kantor

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Tadeusz Kantor
Tadeusz Kantor
Born(1915-04-06)6 April 1915
Wielopole Skrzyńskie,Austria-Hungary
Died8 December 1990(1990-12-08)(aged 75)
Kraków,Poland
NationalityPolish
Occupation(s)Theater director, artist
Notable workDead Class;Wielopole, Wielopole

Tadeusz Kantor(6 April 1915 – 8 December 1990) was a Polishpainter,assemblageandHappeningsartist, set designer andtheatre director.Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad. Laureate ofWitkacy Prize – Critics' Circle Award(1989).

Life and career

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Kantor was born to Marian Kantor-Mirski and Helena Berger. His family were staunch Catholics. His mother was related to composer and conductorKrzysztof Penderecki,through her German father. Born inWielopole Skrzyńskie,Galicia(then in Austria-Hungary, now inPoland), Kantor graduated from theCracow Academyin 1939. During theNazi occupation of Poland,he founded the Independent Theatre, and served as a professor at theAcademy of Fine Arts in Krakówas well as a director of experimental theatre inKrakówfrom 1942 to 1944. After the war, he became known for hisavant-gardework in stage design including designs forSaint Joan(1956) andMeasure for Measure(1956). Specific examples of such changes to standard theatre were stages that extended out into the audience, and the use ofmannequinsas real-life actors.

In 1955, with a group of visual artists disenchanted with the growing institutionalization of avant-garde, he formed a new theatre ensemble calledCricot 2.In the 1960s, Cricot 2 gave performances in many theatres in Poland and abroad, gaining recognition for their stagehappenings.His interest was mainly with theabsurdistsand Polish writer and playwrightStanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz(also known as "Witkacy" ). Stage productions of Witkacy's playsThe Cuttlefish(1956) andThe Water Hen(1969) were regarded as his best achievements during this time. A 1972 performance ofThe Water Henwas described as "the least-publicised, most talked-about event at theEdinburgh festival".[1]

Tadeusz Kantor, commemorative bust byKornel Arciszewski
Tadeusz Kantor,Kantor's chair,concrete sculpture, height 14 m.Hucisko,Poland

Dead Class(1975) was the most famous of his theatre pieces of the 1970s.[2][3]A TV-Movie of the production was made in 1977, directed byAndrzej Wajda.[4]In that play, Kantor himself played the role of a teacher who presided over a class of apparently dead characters who are confronted by mannequins representing the characters' younger selves. He had begun experimenting with the juxtaposition of mannequins and live actors in the 1950s.

His later works of the 1980s were very personal reflections. As inDead Class,he would sometimes represent himself on stage. In the 1990s, his works became well known in theUnited Statesdue to presentations atEllen Stewart'sLa MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.

Throughout his life, Kantor had an interesting and unique relationship withJewish culture;despite being a nominalCatholicKantor incorporated many elements of what was known as "Jewish theatre"into his works.

Kantor died in Kraków.

The new Center for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor,Cricoteka[pl]was opened in Krakow in 2014.

Major manifestos and writing

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  • The Autonomous Theatre(1963)
  • Theatre Happening: The Theatre of Events(1967)
  • The Informel Theatre(1961)
  • The Zero Theatre(1963)
  • The Theatre of Death(1975)

Productions with Cricot 2

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  • The Cuttlefish(1956)
  • The Country House(1961)
  • The Madman and the Nun(1963)
  • The Water Hen(1965)
  • Dainty Shapes and Hairy Apes, or the Green Pill(1972)
  • The Dead Class(1975)
  • Wielopole, Wielopole(1981)
  • Let the Artists Die(1985)
  • Macchina dell'amore e della morte(1987)
  • I Shall Never Return(1989)
  • Today is my Birthday(1990)

See also

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References

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  1. ^Ellis, Samantha (13 August 2003)."Water Hen, Edinburgh, August 1972".The Guardian.Retrieved10 May2020.
  2. ^Czerska, Karolina."The Dead Class – Tadeusz Kantor".culture.pl.Retrieved10 May2020.
  3. ^Romanska, Magda (2012).The Post-traumatic Theatre of Grotowski and Kantor.Anthem Press. p. 201.doi:10.7135/UPO9780857285263.029.ISBN978-0-85728-516-4.Retrieved10 May2020.
  4. ^Dead Class (TV Movie 1977)atIMDb

Further reading

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  • Kobialka, Michal, ed and trans. "A Journey Through Other Spaces: Essays and Manifestos, 1944–1990." Publisher: University of California Press, 1993.ISBN0-520-08423-3
  • Kobialka, Michal, Author, ed and trans. "Further on, Nothing: Tadeusz Kantor's Theatre." Publisher: University of Minnesota Press, 2009.ISBN978-0-8166-5481-9
  • Wilson, Edwin.Goldfarb, Alvin.Living Theatre: A History.Publisher: McGraw-Hill, 4th edition. August 5, 2003.ISBN0-07-256257-9
  • Krzysztof Pleśniarowicz, Kantor. Artysta końca wieku, Wrocław 1997.
  • Pleśniarowicz, Krzysztof, Author, Brand, William trans. "The Dead Memory Machine. Tadeusz Kantor's Theatre of Death", Publisher: Black Mountain Press. Centre for Performance Research, Aberystwyth, 2004ISBN1-902867-04-1
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Media related toTadeusz Kantorat Wikimedia Commons

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