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Hamlet performed in Wawel Castle
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
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Potem powróciłem jeszcze raz do Szekspira. Hamlet nie dawał mi spokoju. To pierwsze przedstawienie tam, na Wybrzeżu. I pomyślałem sobie, że może zrealizuję ideę, którą miał Stanisław Wyspiański. Mianowicie, żeby wystawić Hamleta na Wawelu. Wawel to jest wspaniały, królewski zamek, który ma wewnątrz renesansowe krużganki i olbrzymie podwórze. To jest największe... największe podwórze renesansowe, jakie zostało w ogóle wybudowane, większe niż te, które istnieją w Italii. Na tym podwórzu Stanisław Wyspiański wyobrażał sobie, że tą galerią górną przechadza się Hamlet, trzymając książkę i rozmawiając z Poloniuszem: 'Co książę czyta?' 'Słowa, słowa, słowa...' – no, piękna idea. I wtedy pomyślałem sobie, że nie będę robił całego Hamleta, zrobię tylko sceny, a potem przeniosę go do teatru. I tak powstało takie widowisko plenerowe Hamleta, które było jednym z ciekawszych manifestacji, jakie mnie udało się zrobić w teatrze. Przeniosłem to przedstawienie do teatru, niestety jego uroki tego wielkiego, wspaniałego dziedzińca gdzieś zgasły. Przedstawienie stało się dosyć konwencjonalnym przedstawieniem Hamleta. I Hamlet znowu, że tak powiem, był tym tematem, z którym jeszcze się musiałem rozliczyć.

After this, I returned once again to Shakespeare. Hamlet gave me no peace, it was the first play there in Teatr Wybrzeże. I thought to myself maybe I'll put into practice the idea that Stanisław Wyspiański had, namely, to perform Hamlet in Wawel Castle. Wawel is a magnificent royal palace which has a Renaissance cloister and a vast Renaissance courtyard. It's the biggest one of its kind that was ever built, bigger even than the ones in Italy. Stanisław Wyspiański imagined that in this courtyard, Hamlet would be walking along the upper gallery holding a book and talking with Polonius: 'What do you read, my lord?' 'Words, words, words...' What a beautiful idea. And then I thought to myself, I won't do the whole of Hamlet, I'll only do a few scenes and then I'll transfer it to the theatre. And that's how the open air performance of Hamlet came about, and it was one of the more interesting things I managed to do in theatre. I transferred the play to the theatre but unfortunately, the appeal of this great, magnificent courtyard was extinguished. The play became just a conventional performance of Hamlet, and once again it was a topic with which I had a score to settle, so to speak.

Polish film director Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) was a towering presence in Polish cinema for six decades. His films, showing the horror of the German occupation of Poland, won awards at Cannes and established his reputation as both story-teller and commentator on Poland's turbulent history. As well as his impressive career in TV and film, he also served on the national Senate from 1989-91.

Listeners: Jacek Petrycki

Cinematographer Jacek Petrycki was born in Poznań, Poland in 1948. He has worked extensively in Poland and throughout the world. His credits include, for Agniezka Holland, Provincial Actors (1979), Europe, Europe (1990), Shot in the Heart (2001) and Julie Walking Home (2002), for Krysztof Kieslowski numerous short films including Camera Buff (1980) and No End (1985). Other credits include Journey to the Sun (1998), directed by Jesim Ustaoglu, which won the Golden Camera 300 award at the International Film Camera Festival, Shooters (2000) and The Valley (1999), both directed by Dan Reed, Unforgiving (1993) and Betrayed (1995) by Clive Gordon both of which won the BAFTA for best factual photography. Jacek Petrycki is also a teacher and a filmmaker.

Tags: Hamlet, Teatr Wybrzeża, Wawel, William Shakespeare, Stanisław Wyspiański

Duration: 1 minute, 38 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008