Kantor: A Biography

Krzysztof Pleśniarowicz (author) is Professor and Head of the Department of Contemporary Culture at the Jagiellonian University (UJ) in Krakow and former Director of the Cricoteka Centre for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor in Krakow (1994–2000). His publications include The Theatre of Un-Human Forms (in Polish, 1994 and 2023), The Space of Anti-Illusion: Twentieth-century Models of the Theatrical Work (in Polish, 1996 and 2020, in English, 2024), Eastern Drama of the Absurd in the Twilight of the Soviet Block (in Polish, 2000 and 2021; in English, 2023), The Dead Memory Machine: Tadeusz Kantor’s Theatre of Death (in Polish, 1990; in English, 1994 and 2004; in Hungarian, 2007), Kantor: A Biography (in Polish, 1997 and 2018, in Serbian, 2025). He has also prepared critical editions of Tadeusz Kantor’s writings (in Polish, 2000 and 2005; in Romanian, 2014).Paul Vickers (translator) studied Polish and German at University College London, followed by a master’s degree and a PhD in Slavonic studies from the University of Glasgow. He is employed at the University of Regensburg. He has published research on Polish culture and history. His translations include Performing Poland by Dariusz Kosiński (2019) and Theorizing Archaeological Museum Studies by Monika Stobiecka (2024), as well as numerous articles by Ewa Domańska and an online encyclopaedia on the life and works of Jerzy Grotowski.

• 1. From Wielopole to the World (1915-39) 2. The Underground Independent Theatre (1939-45) 3. Confronting Stalinism (1945-55)4. Informel and the Origins of Cricot 2 (1955-63) 5. Emballages, Happenings and Journeys (1963-75) 6. The Theatre of Love and Death (1975-90) 7. “To enter the world museum…”The Wandering of the Cricot 2 Theatre, 1967-92Index