Chicago’s Trap Door Theatre has been invited to perform at the renown Cricoteka in Krakow with their critically acclaimed production of Stanislaw Witkiewicz’s The Pragmatists, as part of the 140th celebration of the artists birth.
This February, Trap Door embarks on a tour throughout three major cities in Poland with last year’s production of The Pragmatists, written by Polish master Stanislaw Witkiewicz and directed by guest director from Serbia, Zeljko Djukic. In honour of playwright Stanislaw Witkiewicz’s 140th birthday,
Trap Door has been invited to celebrate this annual event by performing their critically acclaimed production in Krakow, Zakopane, and Warsaw. The tour’s first stop is at the prestigious Cricoteka -the Tadeusza Kantor Museum and Modern Cultural Institution in the magical city of Krakow.
TOUR PERFORMANCES
Kraków
Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th February
6.30pm
Cricoteka-Tadeusz Kantor Museum, Nadwiślańska 2, Kraków.
bilety.cricoteka.pl
Zakopane
Friday 21st February
7.15pm
Teatr Witkacy, Zakopane
www.witkacy.pl/pl/repertuar
Warsaw
Saturday 1st March
7.00pm
Teatr Druga Strefa, Warsaw
wwwteatr2strefa.pl
Stanislaw I. Witkiewicz (1885-1939)
Witkiewicz is one the most brilliant figures of the European avant-garde. Witkiewicz was a poet, painter, playwright, an expert on drugs, an early spokesman for a radically non-realistic theatre and an original philosopher and social critic of mass culture, post-industrial society, and the rise of totalitarianism. He was also a pioneer in serious experimentation with narcotics and prophetically recognized the growing importance that they would have on Western civilization. Politics, revolution, and even art were similar “drugs.” Witkiewicz committed suicide shortly after the outbreak of War in September of 1939. He is best known for his plays The Madman and the Nun, The Mother, The Water Hen, The Anonymous Work, and The Shoemakers.
Crikoteka & Tadeusz Kantor
The incomparable Tadeusz Kantor was a stage director, creator of happenings, painter, set designer, writer and actor in his own productions, and was always fascinated by the writings of Witkiewicz and staged several of his plays, The Cuttlefish, The Water Hen and Madman and the Nun to name a few.In 1955, Kantor inspired a group of visual artists to help him create the Cricot 2 Theatre, which then became an incubator for his creativity. Trap Door Theatre shares a similar aesthetic with Kantor’s ideology, mainly in the process of his staging, Kantor had pushed the limits of any traditional concept of theatre, as the Trap Door ensemble of artists strive to do the same in today’s ever-changing, fast paced climate of society. Trap Door’s productions resonate with Witkiewicz’s theory of “pure form” in that they attempt to create a metaphysical feeling within the artist and spectator.
About Trap Door Theatre
Trap Door Theatre is committed to seeking out challenging and obscure works. Whether a forgotten European classic, an international project rarely seen in the United States, or an untarnished piece of American literature, Trap Door seeks diverse voices and presents them through innovative expression. We mix established and imaginative techniques to illustrate the absurdities of living in today’s society.
You can find out more at:
www.trapdoortheatre.com

A Scot in Kraków. The founder and editor of Kraków Expats Directory, and our sister sites Kraków TV and Kraków Stories Podcast.
David fell in love with Kraków 25 years ago, making it his home in 2011.
In 2020 he was awarded the title of Kraków’s Ambassador of Multiculturalism, by the President of Kraków, and is also a member of the GlobalScot network, representing Scottish culture and business abroad.
We’re always looking for interesting stories, events, characters or groups to feature. Likewise, if you’d like to join us, as a contributor, please get in touch.
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