Darek Bazaczek

Author of prose, stage works and texts. Graduate of Polish philology at the University of Gdańsk, Poland. His prose works have been published in literary magazines, including: Jupiter, Migotania przejaśnienia (Flickers of Clarity) , Autograf (Autograph), Akcent (Accent), Topos, The Prose of Life – an anthology of contemporary prose, Akant, and Nowe Pismo. He is also a laureate of the II Literary Competition of the University of Gdańsk (Gdańsk) and the II Literary Competition named after Marek Hłasko (distinguished Polish writer), (Vienna).

The theatrical premieres he co-created include: Ten Life-Size Pictures (script, lyrics), directed by D. Siastacz, Gombrowicz Theatre Gdynia, Poland; Master Peter Pathelin (lyrics), directed by E. Wojtaszek, Gombrowicz Theatre Gdynia; Door Number One (script, lyrics), directed by the ensemble, Rotunda Sopot; Marta's Encounters with Death (script), directed by the ensemble, HfG Frankfurt /Main; Catherine Foster's Ninth Lover (script, lyrics), directed by L. Bzdyl, Wybrzeże Theatre Gdańsk; Room for Rent (script), directed by L. Bzdyl, Teatr Wybrzeże Gdańsk; Pernambuco (teksty), reż. M. Chilarecka, Wybrzeże Theatre Gdańsk; Death of a Salesman (lyrics), directed by A. Ferency, Gombrowicz Theatre Gdynia, The Wardrobe (script, lyrics), directed by A. Hofman, Musical Theatre in Gdynia; Cocaine based on Mother by Witkacy (text adaptation, set design, and costumes), directed by E. Mrozińska, Musical Theatre in Gdynia.

The theatrical performances, recitals, and songs authored by him were presented on the stages of the National Theatre (Teatr Mały) in Warsaw, the Stara Prochownia Theatre in Warsaw, the Montownia Theatre in Warsaw, the Drama Laboratory in Warsaw, the Stary Theatre in Cracow, the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Cracow, the Ludowy Theatre (Pod Ratuszem stage) in Cracow, Piwnica Pod Baranami in Cracow, and others. Film productions in which he participated: A Town of Life-Size (script, co-directing), directed by S. Gliński; Janek (script collaboration), directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski.

He is also a laureate of song reviews and festivals (as a performer and author of lyrics and music), including the 25th FPS Kraków 1990, OPPA Warsaw 1992. Several songs with his lyrics became laureates of the Festival of Actor's Song in Wrocław (1997, 1998, 2002).

That Sunday evening, when they set up a few tables on the sidewalk in front of the house and lit candles on the white tablecloth, it was pleasant to sit there until dawn, even though the bottles of homemade alcohol were quickly emptied. They greeted passing cars with cheerful shouts, waved to the last night buses, and every random passerby was invited to join them. If the tincture or green wine ran out, they offered an apple, and when those were gone – strawberry cough syrup.

Prose

His prose output so far consists mainly of a substantial collection of short stories, several of which have been published in literary magazines. In the selected examples presented below, one can read excerpts from short stories, including a fragment of the work The Last Beautiful View, which won two literary competitions and was published in an anthology of contemporary Polish prose, as well as an excerpt from one of his novels.

SUPERVISOR: What was for breakfast?

YOUNG MAN: There was a strong and warm wind, it smeared disgusting clouds, spreading them like a thin layer across the sky, a fly, a foreign one, I had never seen her before, walked across the blue napkin spread on the kitchen table, a tall, slim, but hunched man walked down the street, the gravel crunching under the soles of his black shoes, he stopped, threw a large cigarette butt with both hands, a very large cigarette butt, just under the fence of our house, and continued walking, after a moment, I almost caught a faint smell of smoke, in the evening, I found the spot, but the cigarette butt was already gone, it was a large cigarette butt; someone probably took it.

SUPERVISOR: As for breakfast – not much in the way of vitamins.

Theater

Among the author's stage works are both plays with a dramatic heritage and elaborate recitals of theatrical songs with a script for several actors, as well as experimental performances or monodramas. Nearly twenty of these have been created so far – selected examples of such works with text excerpts can be reviewed below.

SECOND ONE: And all I have is emptiness in my head.
I don't remember anything... All I know is that I woke up in a place strangely unfamiliar to me; I was lying naked in a yellow nylon raincoat in the middle of a city flower bed, frothing with flowers and various grasses – on my right, the petals of night-scented stock were brushing against me, on my left, noble rows of tulips passed by, and in front of me, there were stretches of blue and clouds, clouds, clouds... Because I was lying face up.

Text

In his writing, the boundary between forms often blurs, as the poem becomes a song, the song turns into an actor's etude, and a series of such etudes transforms into a theatrical performance. This blending of forms is why he readily refers to not only his song lyrics but also all of his smaller literary works as "texts" – especially those that are not drama or prose. Thus, texts also include poems, short theatrical forms, film script sketches, and others. Among the examples presented below are works that initially were part of theatrical performances but over time became independent and started to live their own lives, while others were planned from the start as songs lyrics and humbly remain in their destined form.