Stylistic Features of the Main Stages of Tadeusz Kantor’s Creative Work

The article is devoted to the coverage and analysis of the stylistic features of the main stages of the work of the outstanding Polish artist of the twentieth century, Tadeusz Kantor. The author examines his life and creative path, the main factors that shaped his aesthetic and artistic priorities at each stage, his main stage works, and theoretical developments that became a kind of manifestos and formed the stylistic features of Tadeusz Kantor’s directorial experiments. The purpose of the research is to analyse in depth the work of one of the most famous European experimental directors of the twentieth century, Tadeusz Kantor. The methodology of the research is based on the method of biographical reconstruction and elements of structural, analytical, and genre-stylistic analysis. The scientific novelty lies in the introduction of broader information and an in-depth analysis of the creative methods of T. Kantor’s directorial activity into the circulation of Ukrainian theatre studies. Conclusions. The analysis of the stylistic features of the main stages of the Polish artist’s work has shown an extremely interesting approach of T. Kantor to the stage embodiment of dramatic works and literary texts. Rejecting the traditional reading of the primary sources, the director proposed a fundamentally new aesthetic definition and artistic content of the stage space. According to his conceptual vision, the objects in the performances not only served as design elements and performed auxiliary functions but also played separate roles alongside the actors. This approach was especially inherent in the first three stages of T. Kantor’s directorial activity, as evidenced by the analysis of performances of this period. It is emphasized that later on, the director’s imagination played an extremely important role in the performances, usually based on personal memories. A special mention is made of the Theatre of Death – a cycle of five performances that made the Polish artist and the Cricot-2 theatre famous all over the world. These are the performances: The Dead Class (1975), Velopole, Velopole (1980), May the Artists Perish (1985), I Will Never Come Back Here Again (1988), and Today is My Birthday (1991). It was also very important that this cycle received a theoretical justification. Summing up a certain period of creative search, the director published a manifesto under the same title – The Theatre of Death. The ideas of T. Kantor stated and substantiated in this manifesto, as well as the provisions that form the basis of his book Milan Lessons (Lekcje mediolańskie, 1991), can contribute not only to the understanding of the aesthetic and artistic principles of the Polish artist but also to the expansion of the possibilities and means of expressiveness of national filmmaking.