Screen and Novel on Stage: a Cross Reflection on three Krystian Lupa’s Shows

Abstract

Through the analysis of three shows – City of dream based on The Other Side by Alfred Kubin, Gargoyles and Cutting Timber based on Thomas Bernhard’s novels – this article aims at highlighting the specificity of on-stage video in Krystian Lupa’s work. Best known for his adaptations of long novels focusing on conscience and interiority, Lupa supersedes a basic use of video and uses it as a real means for the exploration of the characters’ psyche. More than a mere visual element facilitating the transition from novel to stage, video is for Krystian Lupa a way to interrogate the relationship between all the elements of  theatre: indeed, it questions the actor’s relationship to the character he embodies, as well as the relationship between the spectator and what happens on stage