Abstrakt: | This article seeks to examine (auto)biographical plays. Texts and performances inspired by
biographical material form a significant part of contemporary dramaturgy and theatrical
projects. In Poland, this type of activity is the domain of directors coming from different
generations and representing various styles, for example, Krystian Lupa, Maciej Wojtyszko,
Wiktor Rubin, Michał Buszewicz, Weronika Szczawińska.
Both dramatic texts and stage performances inspired by (auto)biography are non-uniform
messages with updates of various genre forms. They may thus be classified as “blurred genres.”
Two plays (An Autobiography Just in Case by Michał Buszewicz and Simply by Weronika
Szczawińska) shown online during the Divine Comedy theatrical festival in Krakow in 2020
were used to analyze the diverse genre features of stage statements (characteristic of, among
other things, intimate journal, autobiography, performance or theatre of fact) and the phenomenon
of media mediation of theatrical performances made available to the audience via
the streaming platform.
The form of the theatrical texts is of great importance in the staging process. Regardless of
whether they are autonomous dramatic texts that exist prior to their performance or scripts
written specifically for the needs of a given theater project, their dramatic model contributes
substantially to the aesthetics of the spectacle. In specific stage productions, these texts —
due to their performative properties — combine other stage matter in a coherent manner,
thus creating an important tool for representing (auto)biography and an instrument for engaging
the audience. |