An Enchanted Land, with Visions from Beyond: The Theater of Stanisław Wyspiański

“An Enchanted Land, with Visions from Beyond: The Theater of Stanisław Wyspiański”

Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1, 2025

Event organizers:
Krystyna Illakowicz, Ph.D., Slavic and Languages and Literatures, Yale University
Lauren Dubowski, D.F.A., Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM), Yale University

Stanislaw Wyspiański (1869–1907) was a Polish playwright, designer, painter, and theater visionary. He proposed a new Polish theater—one in dialogue with the world—that was both admired and misunderstood in his short lifetime. Despite his significant production history in Poland and abroad, Wyspiański remains less known to American theater.

This conference centers performance, translation, and adaptation as a means to encourage greater awareness of his legacy. The program includes a screening of the celebrated film version of Wyspiański’s The Wedding—as well as readings from other dramas, and a performance of his one-woman piece The Death of Ophelia, in new English translations.

“Wyspiański loved theater—for him, it was an enchanted land, and the costumed actors—visions from beyond.”
— Stanisława Wysocka (1877–1941), Polish actor and director

Location: Varies each day, TBA