Lear. Andrzej Seweryn’s actorial essay

Directed by Janusz Opryński, “Lear” is a monodrama with Andrzej Seweryn relating the tale of Shakespeare’s protagonist from the end. We see him after his death, when he constantly hears the voices of his daughters and the Fool. Lear once again has to face his Fate. He once again has to relive the tragedy of his life. This repeated fulfilment of his Fate is a bitter recollection, an entrance into dialogues with Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, the Fool and himself.

Andrzej Seweryn first played Lear at the Polski Theatre in 2014 in Jacques Lasalle’s monumental production. Today, in a production created in the Stary Theatre in Lublin to celebrate the bicentennial of the theatre, the actor once again takes on this great role in an intimate, but no less moving, production.

“So, in front of our eyes, there is born a great shocking creation of a man who has tasted all the sweetness and bitterness of the world, a specific kind of theatrical essay about crossing the boundaries of the theatre in a search for answers to the fundamental questions about the sense of human existence.” / Tomasz Miłkowski, “Dziennik Trybuna”

In Lublin’s Stary Theatre, one of the most important roles in world theatre shows the whole wealth of Shakespeare’s world but also his theatrical heritage (…) but, in referring it to the actor’s film achievements, it can be said that he is also playing the Last King and the Last Father from the Last Family.” / Jacek Cieślak, rp.pl

It is quite improbable how, in an hour-long minimalistic monodrama, in which every word and every prop has its significance, we see the freshest history of our families and of Poland. / Jacek Cieślak, “Rzeczpospolita”

Creators

Director – Janusz Opryński
Design and costumes – Justyna Łagowska

Cast

Performed by Andrzej Seweryn

Première – 20 October 2022
Language – Polish with English surtitles