Gombrowicz’s Yvonne conquers another country and tests new cultural territories. This time the play is performed by the Janko Kupala National Theatre (Minsk, Belarus), the company which the Lublin audience knows well from their earlier productions: Idyll (1995), Tristan and Isolde (2001). It is the first production of Gombrowicz in Belorus, commissioned by the Theatre Confrontations Festival. The intention of the performance was not only to join the European group of Yvonne’s productions, but also interpret Gombrowicz from the perspective of Belarusian cultural and historical background. I am glad that Belorusian theatre finally turns towards Gombrowicz, however, I am wondering why it happens right now and why it happens to us? Perhaps it results from the fact that Belarusian theatre arrived at a point where it feels a need of ‘Gombrowicz stimuli? Or perhaps it is due to the fact that the Belarusian reality reminds of the totally paradoxical world of Gombrowicz, much more than ever before?
Sergiei Kovalov, playwright