ISBN 978-1-945938-68-9 (hardcover), 250 pages, $50.00
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ISBN 978-1-945938-70-2 (eBook, PDF), $20.00
Moonrise Press announces the publication of "Theater of Women Artists" is the third volume of Kazimierz Braun's collected dramas in a bilingual edition in Polish and English. It contains dramatic recounting of the fates and works of outstanding Polish female artists— the excellent painter Tamara Łempicka, a master of the "Art Deco" style; silent film actress Pola Negri, the brightest star in Hollywood in the 1920s; the most famous Polish singer of the 1930s, Hanka Ordonówna ("Ordonka"); and two excellent actresses for whom there was no place in Poland after the introduction of martial law in 1981, who found themselves in emigration but did not stop dreaming about the stage. All these are fascinating women, so different and expressing themselves in different artistic genres, yet, at the same time—so similar in their passion for artistic perfection and transcending themselves in their art. The four plays are entitled: 1) Tamara L., 2) Pola Negri Tales, 3) The Return of Ordonka, 4) American Dreams.
CONTENTS
SPIS TREŚCI
Teatr Artystek ———————————— — —1
Tamara L .————————————— — —— 3
Opowieści Poli Negri ————————— — — 31
Powrót Ordonki —————————— —— — 63
American Dreams ————————— ————97
Nota o autorze ———————— — —— —— 243
CONTENTS
Theater of Women Artists—————— — — —125
Tamara L.———————————————— 127
Pola Negri Tales—————————————— 153
The Return of Ordonka—-- ————————— 183
American Dreams ————————————— 217
Note About the Author ———— —— —— —-- 243
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kazimierz Braun is a director, writer and theater historian. He studied Polish Literature and Directing. He earned his doctorate at the University of Poznań, and his habilitation at the University of Wrocław; he also obtained a habilitation in directing at the State Drama School in Warsaw. He holds the title of full professor both in Poland and the United States. He directed over 150 theater productions in Poland—in theaters in Gdańsk, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Tarnów, Toruń, Warsaw—and in the USA, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and other countries. He was the Artistic Director and General Manager of the City Theater of J. Osterwa in Lublin and the Contemporary Theater in Wrocław. He lectured at the universities in Poland and the United States, including the University of Wrocław, Drama School Kraków-Wrocław, University of California, City University of New York, New York University, University at Buffalo. He is the author of over 70 books on the history and practice of theater, as well as novels, poetry and dramas published in several languages. His dramas were produced in Poland, the USA, Canada. and Ireland. He has received a number of artistic, literary and scholarly awards, including awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, Turzański Foundation, Japanese Foundation, and the London Prize for Literature.
TAMARA L.
Tamara L. is dedicated to an existential crisis of values and faith in the life of Polish painter Tamara Lempicka, famous for her elegant "Art Deco" portraits and scenes. She confronts her life choices with a Catholic nun, Mother Superior of the convent where she resides, while working on a painting.
Woman with Arms Crossed by Tamara de Lempicka, 1939,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Tamara Łempicka (16 June 1894 – 18 March 1980), born Tamara Rozalia Gurwik-Górska, was born in Warsaw, Poland, married Tadeusz Łempicki, an attorney working in St. Petersburg; then moved to Paris and studied painting with Maurice Denis and André Lhote. After her divorce, she married Baron Raoul Kuffner with whom she moved to the U.S. after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Her personal style had roots in cubism and neoclassicism and is most often associated with Art Deco; she is well known for portraits and still life paintings. In 1974 she moved to Mexico where she died in 1980. More information: https://www.delempicka.org/tamaras-life/
POLA NEGRI TALES
The play about the life and career of Poland's most famous film star of the 1920s and 1930s is the actress's monologue,, reminiscing about her career and romantic affairs, most famously with Valentino, and ending with a conversation with her mother. The play is divided into eight acts, each starting with a silent-film-style caption and is illustrated with fragments from her film roles: in the following films: Madame Du Barry, Sumurun , A Woman of the World, The Spanish Dancer, Mazurka and A Woman Commands.
Pola Negri was the first European actress that signed a Hollywood contract (with Paramount). Born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec (3 January 1897 – d. 1 August 1987 , she was was a stage and film actress and singer. She become world-famous during the silent era of Hollywood. She also appeared in films made in Europe. She was noted for her tragic roles, often becoming a femme fatale, of infinite and destructive erotic charm.
THE RETURN OF ORDONKA
The Return of Ordonka recounts the career, artistic triumphs, war-time suffering and illness of Hanka Ordonowna, Poland's most famous cabaret and musical star, endowed with great stage charisma and enchanting voice. The narrator is her friend. The singer appears on stage in a series of her most famous songs - requiring the actress playing her to be an excellent singer or the use of film and recording inserts.
Hanka Ordonówna, nicknamed Ordonka was born as Maria Anna Pietruszyńska on 4 August 1902 in Warsaw (d. 8 September 1950 in Beirut). She was a cabaret and popular singer, dancer and actress. She started her stage career as a dancer, and with the guidance of director and producer Fryderyk Jarosy became the star of cabaret Qui Pro Quo, and recorded many popular songs, including the most famous song of Poland, "Love with forgive you everything" to text by poem Julian Tuwim and music by Henryk Vars. In 1931, she married Count Michał Tyszkiewicz, who wrote many of her songs; she also wrote poems and song lyrics and music all her life. She was deported to Soviet Union camp during world War II, joined the "Anders" Army - the Second Polish Corps that was allowed to leave and take Polish families and orphans with them. Of her books, only the collection of short stories inspired by her work as teacher and guardian of these orphans on the way to refugee camp in India has been published in Polish. During her imprisonment she got sick with tuberculosis, and finally died of this illness in 1950 in Beirut, Lebanon. .
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