Kochana Wisełko, Dearest Zbyszku

This is a very strange acquaintance. Szymborska — Herbert.

When we put aside the ruminations about their mutual sympathy or something more (the letters suggest a literary-epistolary romance rather than any other) and look passionately at these two people with completely opposite characters, an old (1960s) anecdote about the hen and the pheasant comes to mind.

She is a Cracow girl from a good house, almost a “burgher”, who likes a settled, safe, predictable life. If she went somewhere, she went fishing with Kornel Filipowicz, and furthest to the Warta. He — pulling into the unknown: Italy, France, Greece, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Germany, England, Switzerland, America... et cetera, et cetera. She is a retired editor of a literary weekly, publishing a volume of poetry from time to time. He — foreign scholarships, lectures in Europe and the USA, constantly translated and published in Poland and abroad. She — only French, and “not speaking a word in London”, he — German, English, French, a little Italian, maybe something in Greek. She — a small resident in the city center of Krakow, a group of trusted friends, introvert. He — hotels, residences of friends all over the world, his own apartments abroad, extrovert, “soul of the company”, playwright, almost a hooligan; it was nothing for him to paint a night in a Greek tavern betting on everyone.

So you can put together for a long time...

Herbert, nominated many times almost a certain candidate for the literary Nobel, European, “prince of poets”, winner of 24 world prizes, writes to the modest Szymborskaya, who received this Nobel, a cool telegram: “Warm congratulations”.

Szymborska writes back: “Zbyszku, the Great Poet! If it were up to me, you would be struggling to speak now.”

Mikołaj Grabowski

I write these words with all responsibility: the work seduces — seduces as a whole, seduces with acting creations and incredible pace. How to revive the letters so that they “play”? If anyone is looking for an answer to this question, let him go to the National Old Theater. Wisława Szymborska spoke to us. Zbigniew Herbert spoke to us. Both bulging, joking, picking each other up — and oddly enough that it all fit into the letters to now live on stage. That's right: life enters the stage — in a triumphant march of actors' virtuosity.

Konrad Sikora, barbarnyncawfotelu.wordpress.com

The performance used fragments of Paweł Szymański's 4 Pieces For String Quartet and 4 Pieces For String Quartet from the album Szymański/Mykietyn/Royal String Quartet (Wydawnictwo Hyperion).

Prizes and Trips:

Teatr Stary Lublin — guest performances

The work of Wisława Szymborska © Wisława Szymborska Foundation

www.szymborska.org.pl

Works by Zbigniew Herbert

© Katarzyna Herbert & Beata Lechnio & Rafal Żebrowski

The archival recording of the poem The Message of Mr. Cogito performed by the author comes from the album Zbigniew Herbert reads his poems published in 1998 by Radio Kraków.