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IntheclutchesofShakespeare
brilliantlydocumentedmonographscoverfourhundredyearsofthePolish
Shakespearetheatre,whereasMODrzeJEwSKA.ShakespeareStarofersafas-
cinatingaccountofthelifeofastaroflocalrenownwhorosetomesmerise
overseasaudiences.AndrzejwasatruecustodianofShakespeare:hewould
turnthearchivesinsideouttoretrieveasingleimageofthepastandwould
goathousandmilestofixandguardpresent-dayachievements.Hiswriting
aboutthesuccessivestagesofShakespeareinPolandhadanamazinginflu-
enceontheworkofseveralgenerationsofscholars,settingastrongpattern
ofsharp,passionate,andteasinglywaywardcriticalinquiry.
TepublicationofShakespeareManiawastoprecedeaninvitationtoagath-
ering,asharingofthoughtsandmemoriesand,mostcertainly,muchhand-
shaking.Whatkindofcommentwouldhehavepassedoneachofthearticles?
Whatwouldhehavequestioned,orwhatgibberishwouldhehaveflinchedat
andaltogetherdiscarded?Whywouldhehavedonethis?Intheprefacetoone
ofhislastbooks,acollectionofextended,self-revealinginterviewswithac-
tors,hewrote:“Togetherwithsomeofmyeminentcolleaguesfromtheprevi-
ousgenerationandmycontemporaries,Iamtryingtopeepbehindthescenes
tounderstandtheolderforms,meansandresourcesofthePolishtheatre,our
waysofthinkingandexperiencingemotionsor,infact,thesensibilityofthose
generations…Andthuswekeepdiscussingthings.Justdiscussingthem”.4
Terewillbenogreatpartingwithhisfriends,withothermenofletters.
Werehewithus,hewouldcertainlymakesurethatthosewhoaremostseri-
ouscastawaytheirblack“Catotogas”and“theeggheadstheiracademic
caps”.5Insteadofdiscussions,wecanreadwhatwehaveallcomposed,re-
memberingtheShakespeareManiacwhomweallknew,thoughinavariety
ofdiferentwaysandonlyasmuchashewouldletusknowhim.
ShakespearemaniawasalwayssomethingthatAndrzejtalkedabout.
Whatkindofafictionisit?InhisbiographyofHelenaModrzejewska,
amidstsomehighlyacademiccommentsontheperspective,angleanddis-
tanceintheessaysdevotedtothemysteryofthestageandwrittenbysome
nineteenth-centurycritics,hesmugglesinanexceptionallybeautifulaside,
pennedwithliteraryeloquencesotypicalofhiswritingstyle:
Thereexistsin-betweentheshoresoftimeandabovetheabyssofgenerations
auniqueandfragilebridge,asmagicalasillusoryistherealitycreatedoccasionallyby
thetheatreor-timeandagain-bygreatactors…6
4Ibidem,p.9.
5Ibidem.
6AndrzejŻurowski,MODrzeJEwSKA.ShakespearStar,p.418.
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