Poetry and the Stage. On the Theatrical Reception of the Young Poland Dramatic Poems

Abstract

The term “dramatic poem” refers to the works devoid of coherent and well-ordered action, characterized by a high saturation with a lyrical element, striving to capture the fate of man in the form of poetic synthesis. Since the times of classicism, the dramatic poem has been accepted as a work independent of the stage performance, as a text to be read rather than put on stage. The aim of the article is to show which model of reception dramatic works with a poetic structure fit in the era of modernism. As an example, the works of Maciej Szukiewicz, Józefat Nowiński and Jan Kasprowicz, who are connected by their debut as playwrights in Krakow at the end of the 19th century, will be cited. Young Poland dramatic poems often functioned in the readers’ exchange, and if they appeared on stage, they were treated as experiments inconsistent with the traditionally understood theatrical practice, provoking discussions around the reduced stage potential of poetic works.