Candide, or Optimism

“Candide” is a multi-threaded, fast-paced story about a world that has fallen apart. And about a young man trying to find himself in it. The title character travels all over the world. The truth that emerges from these journeys is quite cruel — the world is the same everywhere — corrupt, wars are fought everywhere, the division between rich and poor is great, hypocrisy and betrayal run a social life, and ruthless nature also adds its own. An important role of staging is its painterly convention. Voltaire's story is collided with the painting by Andrzej Wróblewski.

Voltaire draws in his philosophical novel a diagnosis of the world strikingly similar to the one we live in today. In a grotesque, ironic way, boldly combining the sacred and the profane, Voltaire builds a portrait of a man who is trying to put the world together, to create some point of reference, to call what is good and what is bad. This is not a story of hopelessness. Rather, it is a praise of our human efforts. We have no choice but to strive for a better world. This trip is... a sublime failure.

VoltaireCandide, or Optimism (Candide, ou l'Optimisme) translation: Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński