A return to the Theatre of the Word

By Dariusz Bereski

Published in Ashvamegh Launch Issue, February 2015

“No mirror will reflect a man better than his words”. Juan Luis Vives

We are living in the time of significant transformation of the contemporary world. I am under an impression that never before we have been so close to the heart of reality. We have an access to the internet; new technologies are developing in front of our eyes; information comes to us from everywhere. Our social space is shrinking. The speed of interaction by using information technologies is increasing. Globalisation is surrounding us. On the other hand, again, we ask the same – so crucial questions. The harsh reality brings us every day examples of disrespecting authorities, laws and regulations. We are living in the period of rapid changes of values, during the period of invasion of mass culture. And yet, never before the idea of humanism seemed so empty and worthless! Quite often, we see that instead of reason we worship an instinct, and sense is replaced by nonsense. The modern world, however, and I think – contemporary poetry – gives us a great chance to remain ourselves. What is poetry? When do we really face it? One thing is for sure, that poetry emerges when words “wonder about one another”. ‘Words wondering’ is a contemplation, a retention, a philosophy, a consolation in despair, a comfort of love. It is a careful observation, a hypersensitivity, creating reality. Odisseas Elitis – one of the greatest Greek poets said that poetry is another face of soul. Another Greek poet – Takis Antoniu reassured me in my opinion that poetry is the longest way in this world. He was right, that is for sure. Anyhow, I am inclined to confess that poetry and its language is a very special gift. Being an actor, I am longing for Theatre of a Word “Poetry of a stage” is more often than not a metaphor. Without words, one cannot speak logically neither about “poetry of a stage”, nor about poetry in a theatre or about “poetic theatre”. I am aiming for special inspiration by word and poetry in the theatre. Theatre of a word, a poetic theatre. “A word – a gift, a word, a material of highest and best quality. It is mostly man-made, it can express everything just as other artistic material, it can bring forth a vision of lines as well as shapes, colour and sound. And therefore the artistry of a word is considered to be of highest value and the essence of art of being an actor, its root and its soul”. This is a credo of Mieczyslaw Kotlarczyk (a creator of Rhapsody Theatre known also as Redoubt of a Word) and of the former actor of this Theatre – Karol Wojtylla (Pope John Paul II) The word is to show direction, to nurture, to support the audience and also the actors what is real, good and beautiful. It is to help us to become more of a human being. “Theatre whose first element is a word – attracts necessity of thinking” – said Karol Wojtyla. The Theatre of a Word arose from fascination over the word, from caring about poetry. Writing makes me a human being. I am also becoming more of a human being while interpreting texts on stage. The word shows direction, it nurtures, it supports the audience and also the actors what is real, good and beautiful. It is to help him become more of a human being. It is helping me.

Introduction to the Author

Mr. Dariusz Bereski (born 1965) is a theatre artist and writer from Poland. He has a long experience as a theatre actor and performs at many theatre states in Poland. His most important awards include: 1987 – The Golden Spire – an Audience’s Award, 1990 – a Bronze Spire, 1992 – Silver Spire, 1993 – Silver Key, 2003 – International Festival of Word Art “Verba Sacra” – the main award of R. Brandstaetter. 2012 – A Master of Polish Spoken Word Vox Populi, A Bronze Medal of Gloria Artist – for his service for Polish culture in 2012 (presented by the Minister of Culture and Art).