Krystian Lupa

(b. 1943) – a theatre director, scenographer, teacher, mainly tied to the Stary Theatre in Cracow, and a prose writer.

The creator of stage productions, widely admired by critics and audiences, adapting works of literature by Robert Musil, Hermann Broch and Fyodor Dostoevsky; for his performances he makes his own translations of works of German-language prose; he has published a translation of Story Told of the Dark by Rainer Maria Rilke (2000). He has written ‘Utopia i jej mieszkańcy’ (Utopia and Its Inhabitants, 1994) with his writings on the theatre; his prose debut was ‘Labirynt’ (Labyrinth, 2001), followed by a prose collection, ‘Podglądania’ (Voyeurism, 2003).

Krystian Lupa’s volumes of prose contain entries from the director’s diaries, often woven together to form a plot. In Labyrinth he mainly looks at childhood; the opening chapters of Voyeurism are similar, though further in, the author leaves his early years behind. Voyeurism is far more diverse than his debut, with more themes and characters. The writer focuses on both his loved ones and acquaintances and on people he does not know, but observes on the street. Yet he mostly describes the world and other people to better know and depict himself.

Lupa has long been fascinated by modernist literature, as reflected in his theatrical productions. This fascination was evident in Labyrinth. Lupa addresses some highly modernist subjects, writing about where physicality and spirituality, life and death (or: youth and old age), and metaphysics and art intertwine. He offers an emotional portrait of the life of an artist. And this is a modernist artist, as the very type of narrative shows – full of choppy sentences broken off with ellipses. Lupa’s prose takes the form of quick, often anxious notes, trying to keep pace with his thoughts. As befits a modernist writer, he grapples with the near inexpressible.

In his later books, Lupa returns to the convention of the creative diary. Utopia 2 has notes on his most important productions in 1993–2003. He also speaks of the tense relationships between the director and actors. Lupa’s most recent book is also focused on actors – ‘Utopia. Listy do aktorów’ (Utopia: Letters to Actors). This is an odd handbook, a record of a method, a testimony to a director’s understanding of theatre and his artistic outlook.

Lupa has won many theatre awards and honours for his service to culture. He received two nominations for the Nike Literary Award: for his prose debut, Labyrinth (2002), and for Voyeurism (2004).