The Radiance of Fatherhood – the Radiance of Theatre. An Outline of the Stage Interpretations of the Dramatic Work of Karol Wojtyła

Abstract

This article deals with the history of the stage performances of Karol Wojtyła’s play The Radiance of Fatherhood, which is considered by many to be, of all of the author’s plays, the one least suitable for performing on stage, starting with the world premiere in 1983 by Andrzej Maria Marczewski, through subsequent versions by the same director, as well as by others, both from professional and alternative theatres, including amateur ones. The vast majority of the stage performances in question were performed in Poland; however, the recently accomplished premieres of the dramatical work in Slovakia (2015) and in the Czech Republic (2019) are also mentioned. The aim of this text is to show the way many theatre artists faced the challenge of dealing with what is undoubtedly the most multidimensional text of Wojtyła’s oeuvre, as well as to trace the proposed visual solutions and stage interpretations of the dramatical work.