Studio: international art (83.1922)

THE ART OF THE THEATRE

power and to get rid of his old wife.
Eventually he escapes from the devil to
the moon, where he is to remain suspended
till the Day of Judgment. The piece
might be taken as symbolical of Poland
which has just escaped from the devil and
has reached a higher level. The action
takes place in Cracow, a background that
lends itself to wonderful fantastic and
imaginative treatment. One of the scenes
Wyspianski has already made immortal
in his “ November Night/' a revolutionary
play which the Russians banned. The
colour schemes are nicely balanced. From
the hot lurid opening scene of the al-
chemist's workshop we pass to the cool
blue night scene of the roofs of Cracow,
where the fantastic lines of the roofs
compose so nicely with those of the
movements of the night spirits in the

form of cats and owls, the whole expressing
the movement of diabolical dance. Per-
haps one of the gayest scenes is that of
the Market Square at Cracow,filled with the
colour and movement of dancing peasants
in national costume such as one finds
at fascinating old Zakopane. Contrasted
with this is a wonderfully effective oriental
scene, in which the decorator uses his
gift of bold imaginative colour to the full.
In another scene, of which an illustration
is here given, an old Polish inn serves
as an effective background for a dazzling
mass of peasant colour. The final scene
is very bluebirdesque in conception —
very misty and mystical and mythical,
with its immense golden moon and faint
blue mists and fantastic lines of stars and
planets such as we might expect to see
hung athwart the ** atmospheres." H.C.

150

THE INN CALLED ROME IN THE NEW
POLISH BALLET “ PAN TWARDOWSKI ”
DESIGNED BY WINCENTY DRABIK