Blade runner
Peter S Rieth: Have you ever seen a theater performance in a foreign language that made an impact on you in spite of the language barrier?
Jan Klata: One of the strongest and most moving theatrical dramas I've seen was performed in Lithuanian. It was Nekrosius' Macbeth. A chilling, grand play. True, I didn't understand a word of it, but that was not a barrier. Then again, in theater we often know the content of a play beforehand.
Why should a foreigner who comes to Poland see a play in Polish rather than, say, a Polish movie with subtitles?
He should go to the theater so that, for example, he can see a different take on Shakespeare's Hamlet or to find out for himself if Philip K Dick's work of science-fiction genius, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, can be effectively performed on stage.
What is the worst thing that Poland has taken from Western culture?
It is the best of things and the worst of things: pop culture.
Do the business community and high art necessarily have to be antagonistic?
I am perhaps unique amongst my fellow artists insofar as I haven't an ounce of disgust towards businessmen. Quite the contrary, since I am awe-struck by two character traits: a solid work-ethic and the ability to take risks. The fact of the matter is that these character traits should be common to both artists and businessmen.
Do you think art risks compromising itself when it attempts to be political, or to teach people something?
Art always risks belittling itself. The more it takes risks, the more interesting it can turn out or the more pitiful. The artist is quite simply a blade runner.
Does art have any social responsibility beyond the satisfaction of the artist's intentions and vision?
I am deeply convinced that each artist creates predominately for his own self. He creates because he must. Nevertheless, there is a difference in the situation of a painter, a composer, a writer and a theatrical director. Theater work is a team effort, and its fruit - the play - is a common experience. I would certainly not think to trouble my co-workers, the director generals of theaters, actors and, eventually, my audience, unless I wasn't convinced that what I wish to express will be relevant for more people than just me. This conviction was not very common among my older colleagues until very recently - these directors focused on creating a deeply introspective theater.
Currently, there is a deep dispute taking place in Polish theater with regard to what issues we should be free to touch upon. The dispute is harsh, really a war where bodies pile upon bodies. I am decidedly on the side of those who believe that theater, in principle, should take up the question of the political. This is why I put on Hamlet in the old ruins of the Gdańsk Shipyard, the birthplace of Solidarity. Every work of art is political. In this sense, I believe that I satisfy both my artistic passions and civic duties at once.
How do you view your art?
I see my art as an act of violence against the familiar in favor of the strange. And vice versa.
Is there anything that you would hope all visiting foreigners could experience in Poland?
The women.
PSR
