On Tuesday, 20th November some of our secondary pupils went to see “Revenge” at the Juliusz Slowacki Theatre in Krakow. It is a seemingly innocent social comedy about a property dispute written by the “father” of Polish comedy, Aleksander Fredro.
When he first published it, Poland was divided between three superpowers and the Russian censors of his day were not slow to spot the subversive potential of the play.
The play was directed by Anna Augustynowicz, who brought out the beauty and rhythm of a poem yet presented us with prosaic characters of Cześnik and the Notary. She did not obediently follow Fredro but changed the optics, looking at us through the eyes of the rejected, the unwanted. The play was seeking laughter, but not the simple, village fair kind, but the laughter of a jester. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening and although the play was in Polish, there were subtitles in English available on the screen above the stage.