A revision of antiquity for Kraków festival

Who are Medea, Phaedra and Antigone today? Is catharsis still possible in modern theater? And what is fate after Freud and Jung?

Answers to these and other questions about the presence of antiquity in modernity will be provided during the Re_Wizje/Antyk (Revision/antique) theater festival, which is currently on at Teatr Stary in Kraków.

This is the second edition of the experimental Rewizje project, which aims to reinterpret classic Polish and world theater. This year the theme of the festival is antiquity, which for centuries was a touchstone for European theater, but has fallen by the wayside in recent years. The organizers of the festival want to show that when the work of Aristophanes, Sophocles and other classic authors is read anew and presented in a fresh drama, they can still touch on crucial facets in everyday life.

The project was prepared by Teatr Stary in cooperation with the Deutsches Theater from Berlin. Invited artists will present contemporary pieces inspired by ancient plays and theater. Among those present will be Krystian Lupa, the Gardzienice Theater, Jan Klata, Maria Spiss, and Klaus Gruber. The festival will also feature a series of lectures about the various aspects of the ancient theatrical tradition, as well as exhibitions and film screenings.

Last year, the festival focused on the heritage of Romanticism, so why the switch to antiquity? Grzegorz Nieziołek, the artistic director of the festival, said: "This is a theater that explodes common-sense images of reality. It knocks down the habits inside us, and this field, which fascinates us, is a part of the current discussion of the modern condition."

Festival Re_Wizje/Antyk takes place from January to May 2007. For a program of events and further details see www.stary.pl