Polish "Macbeth" and the Middle East Crisis

Abstract

Shakespeare was staged for first time in by Wojciech Boguslawski in 1798. It was Hamlet which Boguslawski decided to introduce to audience, and which became an indispensable element of war for independence, while its hero became Polish Prince, representative of nation.1 In context, shaped by wars, over two centuries of captivity and struggle for independence, Hamlet was usually followed by Macbeth as they both proved to be very potent vehicles for social and political commentary. With political and cultural changes of 1989, first partly free elections and end of fights for national cause, Hamlet became less attractive. However, since wars continued, need to comment on fight and struggle, nature of evil, deadly conflicts, hatred and power remained. In spite of growing interest in Shakespearian comedy in 1990s,2 gloomy tragedies remain matrix of present. Since 2004, Macbeth has been triumphantly coming back [...] to repertoire of many theatres3 in Poland (Drewniak),4 inspiring young and old directors. In last twenty years of twentieth century, play appeared only twelve times on professional stages, and in season 2004/2005 it dominated theatre with seven premieres, three of which - productions by Andrzej Wajda (Stary Teatr), Pawel Szkotak (Teatr Biuro Podrozy) and Grzegorz Jarzyna (Teatr Rozmaitosci) - approached play directly from perspective of Middle East conflict and continuing war.5The theme of Macbeth has been very eagerly exploited in context, as Jaroslaw Komorowski enthrallingly presents in his influential study Piramida zbrodni. w kulturze polskiej 1870-1989 [Crime Pyramid. Macbeth in Culture 1870-1989] (2002).6 The play provides effective tools to comment on war and its terror, especially from outside of war zone. In Poland, under German occupation, Macbeth did not appear on an official stage, which practically did not exist. Yet, it did attract attention among many writers-emigrants, who found Macbeth - story about defeating bloodthirsty tyrant - great illustration of situation Poland was in.7 A prosaist and art historian, Stefania Zahorska, published in 1942 in London's Wiadomosci Polskie [Polish News] an article Makbet na emigracji [Macbeth in Exile], in which she tried to analyze tragedy looking at it through experiences of war and complexities of dictatorship (Komorowski 201-3). Three years later, Stanislaw Cat-Mackiewicz published in London pamphlet, Lady Macbeth my je rece [Lady Macbeth washes her hands], in which he accused Great Britain of a treacherous betray of Poland, which fell prey to Soviet Russia (qtd. Komorowski 204). At that time, but in occupied Poland, Stefan Jaracz - theatre director and survivor of Auschwitz, cultivated his desire to stage Macbeth, which every day becomes more and more relevant (qtd. Komorowski 205).Komorowski observes that, just after thinking through Macbeth and about Macbeth was very much connected with political situation, and though the tragedy could have described reality of war, it could have described probably even better, post- war reality of Poland under next Soviet occupation (204, 206). Lor first time after Second World War, Macbeth was staged during Thaw, i.e. during period of significant changes in politics and social life caused by deaths of Joseph Stalin and communist leader Boleslaw Bierut, and as consequence, by liberalisation and destalinization of Poland. The production was made in 1958 by Zygmunt Hubner (Teatr Wybrzeze, Gdansk), who in playbill commented on current political situation, saying that play is all about maintaining power, that is, about greed, demagogy and ruthlessness (Komorowski 215-225).In 1980s Macbeth was used to debunk war crimes and Soviet hypocrisy. …