Witkacy's pure form and the concept of the sublime

Abstract

Theatre in Pure Form, whose artistic potential Witkacy compares to the latent force of the slumbering beast, was proclaimed by his contemporaries, almost in unison, an apology of nonsense or, at best, an implicit parody of some modes of thinking. However, in the course of its reception Witkacy’s idea of Pure Form in theatre has become a dynamic link in the network of post-war avant-garde. It can be related there to the Theatre of the Absurd, the Theatre of Cruelty, Craig’s wholistic concept of mise-en-scene, to name but a few.