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Teatr Stary in Kraków

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The first performance of The Devils
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
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It was the evening performance - the audience arrived and the actors realised that there was no way out and that what they knew, what they'd experienced, the things they'd encountered, had learned, all of this had to go on stage. They were scared because I'd told them, perhaps I'd been cruel, but it seemed to me that as a director, this was the right thing for me to do, I kept telling them for over two months of rehearsals that this play was too difficult for them, that they can't carry Dostoyevsky, that it's beyond not just their but my capabilities, too. Because of this, they were terribly nervous, unsure of themselves. So when the play began, and it began straight away very turbulently since another actor took the place of the first one, because Stary Teatr was a fantastic place where everything was possible - I'll come back to this later - suddenly, the play was storming ahead. The audience was amazed by what it was seeing and began to applaud. The actors weren't prepared for the applause and stood there like sheep wondering at what was going on. They hadn't expected the audience to approve. And so the play continued until it ended. When I saw the reaction of the audience and what was happening on stage, I said to myself, well at last I've done something in the theatre, something with which I've surprised myself. I think it's always important in art, if the artist wants to do something good, for him to be surprised by what he does. And this is what happened.

Wieczorne przedstawienie – przyszła widownia i aktorzy zdali sobie sprawę, że tu już dalej nie ma wyjścia, że to co umieją, to co przeżyli, to z czym się zetknęli, to czego się dowiedzieli, muszą po prostu dać na scenie. I ponieważ byli wystraszeni, ponieważ ja im tłumaczyłem, może się zachowałem zbyt okrutnie, ale wydawało mi się, że jako reżyser tak powinienem postąpić. Ja im tłumaczyłem przez te więcej niż dwa miesiące prób, że to jest za trudna sztuka dla nich, że oni nie mogą udźwignąć Dostojewskiego, że to jest... że to przekracza nie tylko ich, ale i moje możliwości. W związku z tym oni byli szalenie speszeni, niepewni siebie i jak się zaczęło przedstawienie, a zaczęło się od razu z wielką gwałtownością, bo na miejsce tamtego aktora wszedł inny, bo Stary Teatr był fantastycznym miejscem, gdzie wszystko było możliwe. O tym zresztą dalej później opowiem. Nagle się okazało, że idzie przedstawienie jak burza. Że widownia patrzy zdumiona na to, co widzi przed oczami, że zerwały się oklaski. Aktorzy tak nie byli nastawieni na aplauz, że po prostu stanęli jak barany i tak patrzyli, co się dzieje. Tego się nie spodziewali, że widownia ich zaakceptuje. No i tak się przedstawienie odbyło do końca i po reakcji widowni i po tym, co ja sam zobaczyłem, powiedziałem sobie: 'No, nareszcie zrobiłem coś w teatrze, co jest dla mnie samego niespodzianką'. A myślę, że w sztuce jest zawsze najważniejsze, żeby artysta, jeżeli chce zrobić coś dobrego, był sam zaskoczony tym, co robi. No to tu się właśnie stało.

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: Teatr Stary, The Devils, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Duration: 1 minute, 52 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008