Theatre
Tango
Sławomir Mrożek · 1964
Synopsis
In a neglected flat, cluttered with objects from every era, a catafalque, an old pram, a dusty wedding dress, lives Artur's family: his father Stomil, an avant-garde artist, and his mother Eleonora, who in their youth abolished all rules, his grandmother Eugenia and her brother Eugeniusz, his cousin Ala, and Edek, a lout who has moved in with them, Eleonora's lover. Artur, a medical student, rejects this disorder and sets about restoring the family's former forms, beginning by marrying Ala according to the rules.
Context
The first play written after his departure for Italy, at Chiavari, it appeared in November 1964 in the journal Dialog. It was staged in 1965 almost simultaneously in Belgrade, Bydgoszcz and Warsaw, where Erwin Axer's production at the Teatr Współczesny was an event. Jan Kott wrote that after Witkacy, who came too early, and Gombrowicz, who stayed on the sidelines, Mrożek arrived on time, by Polish and by Western clocks alike. The play was subsequently performed in many Western countries.
Who it is for
Three acts in a single apartment; a black comedy that lends itself to a political reading as well as a family one.
Prizes and reception
His most frequently performed play, and the one that made him one of the best-known Polish playwrights in the world.
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