Biography
Tadeusz Kantor
Polish theater director, set designer, painter, actor and writer, widely regarded as one of the most influential avant-garde theatrical directors of the XX century (6 April 1915, Wielopole Skrzyńskie, Austria-Hungary — 8 December 1990, Kraków, Poland). Tadeusz Kantor revolutionized contemporary theater and laid conceptual and theoretical foundations for "assemblage/Happenings" art in a series of manifestos: The Informel Theatre (1961), Zero & Autonomous Theatre (63), Theatre of Events (67), and The Theatre of Death (1975).
Tadeusz Kantor was born in Wielopole Skrzyńskie, Galicia (now Poland), and raised in a family of devoted Catholics. On the patricidal side, his mother was related to the renowned composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki (1933—2020). Kantor graduated from the Kraków Academy in 1939. During the Second World War, he worked at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nazi-occupied Krakòw. Between 1942 and 44, Tadeusz directed his experimental "Independent Theatre." Kantor had conflicting relationships with Jewish heritage: even though he was born into a Catholic family, Tadeusz incorporated numerous "Jewish theatre" elements in his adult work. In the post-war years, Kantor became prominent by staging avant-garde renditions of classics such as George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan of Arc and Shakespeare's Measure for Measure in 1956. His work was noted for groundbreaking experiments with mannequins alongside live actors and for interacting with the audience.
In 1955, as Kantor grew disillusioned with increasingly commercialized and institutionalized "avant-garde," he co-founded a new theatre ensemble Cricot 2. The group became prominent throughout the 1960s, organizing "happenings" in Poland and touring abroad. Tadeusz Kantor staged several plays by the absurdist writer Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885—1939), also known as Witkacy, including the critically-acclaimed Cuttlefish (1956) and The Water Hen (69). One of Kantor's plays, Dead Class (1975), was adapted as a TV movie by Andrzej Wajda.
Tadeusz Kantor was born in Wielopole Skrzyńskie, Galicia (now Poland), and raised in a family of devoted Catholics. On the patricidal side, his mother was related to the renowned composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki (1933—2020). Kantor graduated from the Kraków Academy in 1939. During the Second World War, he worked at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nazi-occupied Krakòw. Between 1942 and 44, Tadeusz directed his experimental "Independent Theatre." Kantor had conflicting relationships with Jewish heritage: even though he was born into a Catholic family, Tadeusz incorporated numerous "Jewish theatre" elements in his adult work. In the post-war years, Kantor became prominent by staging avant-garde renditions of classics such as George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan of Arc and Shakespeare's Measure for Measure in 1956. His work was noted for groundbreaking experiments with mannequins alongside live actors and for interacting with the audience.
In 1955, as Kantor grew disillusioned with increasingly commercialized and institutionalized "avant-garde," he co-founded a new theatre ensemble Cricot 2. The group became prominent throughout the 1960s, organizing "happenings" in Poland and touring abroad. Tadeusz Kantor staged several plays by the absurdist writer Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885—1939), also known as Witkacy, including the critically-acclaimed Cuttlefish (1956) and The Water Hen (69). One of Kantor's plays, Dead Class (1975), was adapted as a TV movie by Andrzej Wajda.