Kazimierz Dejmek's "Forefathers’ Eve" in a "Peculiar Moment"

Edward Krasiński

Abstract

This article addresses the circumstances of the production and the process of its subsequent mythologization of the staging i of Adam Mickiewicz's Dziady (Forefathers’ Eve) directed by Kazimierz Dejmek at the National Theater in Warsaw, which premiered in November 1967 and was removed from the theater’s performance schedule by order of the authorities after 30 January 1968. The author rectifies various erroneous information about this performance. Contrary to subsequent perceptions, the selection of Dziady for the commemoration of the October Revolution could not have been a premeditated external provocation or conspiracy, but rather a personal act "in political and national terms" by Dejmek, the play's director and the head of the National Theater. The author emphasizes that Dejmek harbored an aversion to Forefathers’ Eve and sought to dispel the romantic myth, seeking revolutionary content in Mickiewicz's text. The staging was intended to function as a form of shock therapy, with the objective of unveiling the anti-Tsarist, rather than the anti-Russian, essence of the work, and emphasizing the shared ideals between Polish and Russian rebels .The fact that not only the party authorities, but also critics and audiences interpreted the staging in a manner contrary to Dejmek's intentions is, according to the author, indicative of a loss of connection between Dejmek and the prevailing public sentiment. The second part of the article presents a concise overview of materials and documents published in the same volume of Pamiętnik Teatralny, noting that the publication of the volume serves as a reference to Marta Fik's pioneering research on Dejmek’s Forefathers’ Eve, published in 1995.