Polish Studies of Kyiv: works of International scientific conference, Kyiv, 23-25 of May, 2018. / chief editor R. Radyshevskyi. – vol. XXXV. – Kyiv: Talkom, 2019. – P. 460-465.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/psk.2019.35.460-465

Kalinina A.

THE SPECIFICITY OF SLAVOMIR MROZHEK’S ONE-ACT PLAYS

Abstract. The article examines the characteristic features of the one-act plays of the Polish playwright of the twentieth century Slavomir Mrozhek. The creativity of the writer tends toward the Theater of absurd, it is characterized by grotesque, sharp satire, parody, contrasting combination of incompatible things as well as eccentricity. Mrozhek creates the world of his dramas by using various means of comic. He describes numerous social and political problem in his dramas. The main motives of the writer’s works are the motive of freedom, the motive of life and death, the motive of the dispute and the antagonism of nature and culture. Mrozhek’s one-act plays are short and rational, they have features of the classic “small play” of the 19th century and traits of the absurd, grotesque play of the 20th century. The article traces the history of the formation and development of the Polish and European one-act play throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, its features and characteristics, furthermore the embodiment of these features in specific dramas of Slawomir Mrozhek were analyzed. Among such dramas, the most famous ones are ‘At Sea’, ‘Karol’, ‘Strip-tease’, ‘Zabawa’, ‘Dilemmas of a dog breeder’, ‘The magical night’, ‘Fox hunting’, a brief analysis of individual works is presented in the article. Particular attention is paid to the presentation and description of the typical characters of Mrozhek’s plays, which were diligently studied by the Polish book critic Jan Blonsky. Each of the characters have a special stereotypical trait that is actualized in the acts of the dramas and is emphasized by the actions of the characters. A one-act play is a convincing view of the actual problems in a small form, which requires great skill. Mrozhek’s one-act plays are sharp, absurd, intellectual as well as topical. The language of the works is full of idioms, eloquent expressions and dialects. The surprise effect and attempts to astonish the reader and to cause ambiguous emotions are the main target for the author. The article provides a more detailed analysis of one of Mrozhek’s dramas – ‘Fox Hunting’, the main character of which is the stereotypical figure of Fox, which gives allegory, signs of fable, Aesopian language to the drama. This work is a typical example of the embodiment of the characteristic features of Slavomir Mrozhek’s one-act plays. The purpose of the article is review, analysis and research of the works of the outstanding Polish playwright Slavomir Mrozhek through the prism of his one-act plays.

Key words: drama, one-act play, small dramatic and theatrical forms, the Theater of absurd, the polish theatre, satire, stereotype, absurd.

Information about author: Kalinina Anhelina, student, department of Polish studies, Institute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.