Withoutlands (Bezkresy)

media release: This event will begin with a video of the performance in Polish with English subtitles. It will be followed by a lecture and discussion by director and dramaturg Allen Kuharski that will critically discuss the specific working methods and Polish content of the piece, along with a general discussion of the history, theory, and practices of devised ensemble physical theater in Poland, the United States, and globally.

The video features texts by Mickiewicz, Słowacki, Gombrowicz, and Józef Czechowicz for dancers/actors to combine movement/acting/voice/music. Performed by MFA Dance Theater students of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.

Bezkresy, the Polish title of Withoutlands, refers to the classic poem Przez kresy by the twentieth-century poet Józef Czechowicz.

Sponsored by the Polish Heritage Club - Madison.

ALLEN KUHARSKI has been traveling to Poland for work related to theater and dance since 1981. A UW-Madison graduate ‘81, he has worked as a set designer, director, translator, dramaturg, critic, and performance curator. He founded Swarthmore College’s Theater Department which he chaired for 20 years. He is an authority on the theater of Polish playwright Witold Gombrowicz. Professor Kuharski's work with Polish theater & dance has been acknowledged with Fringe First and OBIE Awards, and two awards from Poland: the Order of Merit in Polish Culture and the Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Award. He has twice been a Fulbright Scholar in theater to Poland, most recently at the Institute for Literary Research at the Polish Academy of Arts & Sciences.