photo - PAP
Described by many critics as an ‘enfant terrible’ of Polish theatre, a ‘destroyer of Polish culture’ and a ‘barbarian in the garden of tradition’, he is remembered as a man who had as many ardent fans as opponents.
The late composer Witold Lutosławski is said to have told Hanuszkiewicz: "You construct your productions like a symphony’, and theatre critic Jan Kott once commented: ‘Having seen your productions of the classical repertoire, other directors should commit suicide, for one cannot go any further".
Indeed, in one of his best-known productions, ‘Balladyna’ by the Polish Romantic playwright Juliusz Słowacki, at the National Theatre in Warsaw (1974), he had three characters, including a female heroine, enter the stage on Honda motocycles.
In another Słowacki play, ‘Kordian’, the title hero delivered his main monologue standing on a ladder.
Born in 1924 in Lwów (now in Ukraine), he joined a Polish Army drama company after the Soviets re-entered the city in July 1944. He did not have any formal education as an actor or director, but soon developed a fine career, becoming one of Poland’s most sought-after and popular men of the theatre. He was a co-founder of Polish Television Theatre and its director for many years.
He served as Artistic Director of the Powszechny, Narodowy and Nowy Theatres in Warsaw. His most memorable productions include Wyspiański’s ‘The Wedding’ and ‘The Liberation’, Turgenev’s ‘A Month in the Country’, Shakespeare’s ‘Coriolanus’ and ‘Hamlet’.
After the imposition of martial law in December 1981, he joined the boycott of Polish Television by Polish actors and worked with theatre companies in Finland and West Germany.
He held many awards and distinctions, including the Commander’s Cross with the Star of the Order of Reborn Poland.
Adam Hanuszkiewicz is survived by his wife, Magdalena Cwelówna, an actress. He had been married three times before, twice to prominent actresses, Zofia Rysiówna and Zofia Kucówna.
When asked in a press interview nine years ago about the shortest remark he would like to hear at his funeral, he replied: ‘Hanuszkiewicz died. It’s going to be boring in the theatre now’. (mk)