Konrad Kiedrzyński: What is so special about Isaac Bashevis Singer for you?
Piotr Cieplak: Singer said that children's literature is a haven where logic has survived, where you can speak about family, humanism and God in simple language. The wisdom of the author is that he can speak about the most metaphysical and sophisticated issues with simple words which can be understood for children. In effect, both seven- and 70-year-olds listen to the same story with the same interest.
Could you tell us a bit about the plot of the play?
The plot is based on eight tales from the Stories for Children collection. It starts in New York, where an absent-minded professor named Shlemiel lives. One day he forgets his way home, and meets a dog as absent-minded as himself. They are like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and they begin a journey to search for home.
The audience in the theater does the same. From New York we journey to Biblical times and see Noah taking animals into his Ark. Then we travel to a little Jewish town, visit an orphanage in Lublin and pass the City of Fools. At the same time, we are accompanied by a multitude of Jewish jokes that are both incredibly funny and have deep philosophical meaning.
Finally we return to New York, but the journey does not finish. The professor tells us: I tell the story for those who believe that everything is alive and that nobody is lost for ever.
In his works Singer often made references to his Jewish identity. How did you approach this issue?
I avoided showing Jewish folklore explicitly in the play, as I do not feel competent enough to portray it. I know the world of the Jews in Poland only from record. Instead, I focused on the spirit and the poetry of that world.
What was the greatest challenge for you?
I am an experienced director and I know my job very well. Yet I have never done a play on such a scale. The play sees 23 people on stage, not to mention Noah's Ark - a particularly impressive element. This multitude of detail reminds me of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
Jewish culture, so present in pre-war Poland, appears exotic for us nowadays. Do you think your play will bring Jewish culture and the modern audience closer together?
Someone told me that he overheard children talking after one of the plays. One kid asked another, "Listen, who is 'a Jew?'" It is excellent that these children learn the word "Jew" in the ambiance of a children's play, out of the context of the hell of the Second World War. For them "a Jew" will be professor Shlemiel. I am not a revolutionary, but I believe in bringing back the original meaning of certain notions into the order of the world.
The play, performed in Polish, is at the National Theater at Pl. Teatralny 3 in Warsaw. For more info log on to www.narodowy.pl or call 0 22 69 20 604
