© Stefan Okolowicz |
GRZEGORZ JARZYNA, (b. 1968) was named TR Warszawa’s (formerly Teatr Rozmaitości) artistic director in 1998, becoming the youngest theater artistic director in Poland. A year earlier, when he graduated from the Theatre Academy in Krakow (where his tutor was the renowned Krystian Lupa), he had been invited to direct a play in this very theatre. His debut production of Tropical Madness, based on two plays by S.I. Witkiewicz (aka Witkacy), which had been in the repertoire for over 8 years, launched his brilliant career. Directing it under the pseudonym Grzegorz Horst d'Albertis, Jarzyna went on to sign each new production with a different alias, as if to suggest that his creative identity changes with each project. In any case, his dynamic staging of Tropical Madness made it one of Polish theater’s most celebrated directorial debuts, with critics calling it the most important presentation of Witkacy in years.
Jarzyna's next productions, Ivona: The Princess of Burgund by Witold Gombrowicz (Stary Theatre in Krakow, 1997) and Unidentified Human Remains by Brad Fraser (Dramatyczny Theatre in Warsaw, 1998) have garnered both fame and the critics' warm approval. A subsequent TR production, Magnetism of the Heart (1999), based on Aleksander Fredro's classic drama, confirmed Jarzyna’s directing ability. He also put on a version of Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus in cooperation with the Hebbel Theatre in Berlin and Polski Theatre in Wroclaw (1999).
TR Warszawa’s production of Prince Myshkin (2000), based on The Idiot by Dostoevski and directed by Jarzyna, was presented at the Festival d'Avignon. Press and critics were delighted: "Jarzyna, Lupa's gifted apprentice" (Liberation); "A director with sophisticated intelligence" (L'Humanite).
The next performance, The Celebration (TR Warszawa, 2001), a theatrical adaptation of Vinterberg's and Rukow's film Festen, turned into one of the most important events of the season. Jarzyna’s 4:48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane, made in co-production with Polski Theatre in Poznan (2002), has been successfully played all over Europe since its premiere, and in a modified version at the Schauspielhaus in Duesseldorf (2002). His next production was In the Jungle of Cities by Bertolt Brecht, at the Schaubuehne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin (2003).
In 2003 Jarzyna launched a project of the TR Warszawa called “Teren Warszawa” (Terrain Warsaw) – conceived as a way to break out of the confines of the traditional theatre space, to make artistic use of public or abandoned spaces and thereby reach a much wider audience, and to afford talented young artists from outside the theatre an opportunity to participate creatively. Its first production was an adaptation of the contemporary Canadian playwright George F. Walker’s Risk Everything, performed in the main hall of Warsaw’s Central Railroad Station. The production was brought by the Polish Cultural Institute to Brooklyn in 2004 for a run at St. Ann’s Warehouse in which the integration into the spectacle of action on the street outside its storefront windows was as startling as the performance by Aleksandra Konieczna. Jarzyna’s 2005 production of Macbeth was performed in a cavernous old factory in Warsaw.
Jarzyna's performances have been given at a number of international festivals: the Bonn Biennale, the International Theatre Festival Divadelna Nitra; the International Theatre Festival Image in Satu Mare (Grand Prix); the Festival of Central European Culture, London; the Europalia Festival in Antwerp; and New Drama Action, Vilnius. After presentation of The Celebration at the 1st International Theatre Festival, Dialog, in Wroclaw, Poland (2001), the press wrote: "Jarzyna is not only talented, but he is also mature, in all respects. He is in possession of the theatre and of his own artists. He is sought after at international festivals and appreciated in Poland. In other words, this is not only a rising star, this is a great authority. In his country they know how to take care of young talent." (Marina Davidowa, Wriemja.) The confirmation of this opinion was the enthusiastic reviews of Jarzyna's 4.48 Psychosis presented in November 2003 in Moscow and of The Celebration presented at Dublin’s Abbey Theater in February 2004. Previously The Celebration was also presented at the Wiener Festwochen (May 2002) and at the Avignon Festival (July 2002).
His recent Warsaw production, Giovanni, based on Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Moliere's Don Juan, premiered in September 2006. The production had an unusual theatrical form, as it presented theatrical actors “lip-synch’ing” to Mozart as pre-recorded by opera singers.
In December 2006 Jarzyna directed his own version of Medea at the Burgtheater in Vienna, receiving rave reviews there, and was nominated for the Nestroy Prize, one of most prestigious awards in the German-language category held under the auspices of the renowned Paris award, the Prix Moliere.
His most recent production was Lion in Winter by James Goldman, also at the Burgtheater, presented in co-production with TR Warszawa and premiered on November 17, 2007.
Jarzyna has been awarded numerous significant prizes and distinctions, among many others: Laur Konrada (Laurel of Konrad) at “Interpretations” Festival of the Art of Directing in Katowice (1999); "Paszport" / "Passport" award of "Polityka" weekly in the category of theatre (1999); Konrad Swinarski Award (conferred by "Teatr" / "Theatre" monthly) (1999); Award of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for outstanding achievements in promoting Poland throughout the world (2002); Gold Order of 300 Years of St. Petersburg (2004); and Nestroy Prize, one of the most important theatre awards in German-speaking countries, for his Medea at the Burgtheater (2007).
