Poznan Opera is celebrating the 120th anniversary of the birth and the 55th anniversary of the death of Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969), one of Poland’s major modern playwrights.
Every year between 1964 and 1975, British theatre impresario Peter Daubeny would organise a World Theatre Season, bringing foreign theatre companies to the Aldwych Theatre.
One of the plays was Gombrowicz’s Ivona, Princess of Burgundy, a major example of the Theatre of the Absurd. An instant masterpiece, I thought it would be translated into English and be staged by either the RSC or the National Theatre. It never happened.
Now there is a rare opportunity to see another of his plays by the Polish National Opera. The Marriage was written in 1944 in Spanish when Gombrowicz was in exile in Argentina. It was not performed until 1960 for social and political reasons.
This is the second time it has been turned into an opera. The trailer whetted my appetite. The music is by Zygmunt Krause and the text is by Krzysztof Cicheńsk, who also directs. Katarzyna Tomala-Jedynak conducts.
Henryk (Michał Partyka), back from the wars, has nightmares. He is photographed in a hospital bed. The huge photograph fills the back wall of the stage. His head is bandaged. A bullet damaged his brain and he is suffering from PTSD. He is both sane and mad.
The entire action takes place in his head, a horrible dream world, totally artificial and crazy, full of strange and deranged actions. His home has been bizarrely turned into a rowdy inn full of drunkards. His father is the innkeeper and his fiancée is a serving maid.
His father becomes king and the action moves back to the 17th century and the royal court. Henryk is made a prince and the first thing he does is to depose his father. The next thing he does is get married. The ceremony is interrupted by a malevolent Drunkard who points his finger. Henryk persuades his best friend to commit suicide.
Musically and visually, the production is always intriguing; but it is never an easy ride, and audiences may have difficulty working out what is going on and deciding what is true and what is nightmare.
Poznan Opera’s The Marriage, sung in Polish with English subtitles, can be watched free on the OperaVision channel.
Reviewer: Robert Tanitch