Tadeusz Kantor was a theatre director, a happenings creator, a painter, a scenographer, and an art theoretician. His theatrical works gained wide international recognition and contributed to the shaping of European theatre in the 1970s and the 1980s.
Kantor studied at Cracow Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1956 he founded the Circot 2 theatrical troop. The name was a reference to the pre-war avant-garde visual artists’ theatre Cricot. Cricot 2 theatre centres were established in Cracow and Florence.
Kantor performed plays by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. He drew inspiration from the prose of Bruno Schulz and from his own life experience.
His theatre practice is famous for the use of manikins. Kantor referred to his vision of theatre as i.a. the “Theatre of Death”.
“He often participated directly in his productions, acting as a «master of ceremonies», attentively observing the action and intervening when necessary. The shows, often thought to be the vision of a single artist, were replete with references to a complex and multi-cultural Polish history and iconography. They brought Kantor widespread recognition and transformed him into the godfather of a style of theatre that combines the visual perception of form with the need to convey a deep, personal, emotional message. Many of his productions have been inscribed in the annals of theatrical history.” (Culture.pl)
His most prominent and recognised productions include: The Dead Class (1975), Where Are Last Year's Snows? (1979), Wielopole, Wielopole (1980), Let the Artists Die (1985), I Shall Never Return (1988), Today is my Birthday (1991). His most famous happening was the 1977 Panoramic Sea Happening.
Źródła:
Kitowska-Łysiak Małgorzata, Tadeusz Kantor, Culture.pl, http://culture.pl/pl/tworca/tadeusz-kantor
Kłossowicz Jan, Tadeusz Kantor. Teatr, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warszawa 1991.
