Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969) was a Polish-born writer and playwright who resided in Argentina for 24 years (1939–1963). His provocative novels and plays have had a profound influence on European and world literature and theater. He is notorious for writing against the so-called Polishness and becoming a character in Argentinian literature. Gombrowicz disliked going to the theater, but starting in the 1960s, his plays were staged by renowned directors worldwide. Over the last 50 years, Gombrowicz’s Ivona, Princess of Burgundia (Iwona, księżniczka Burgunda, 1937) has also become the most widely performed Polish play of all time in other countries and languages. In Bulgaria, Ferdydurke was published in 1988 (2024); his plays in 1997 (transl. Dimitrina Lau-Bukowska), and Iwona has been produced thrice (dir. Elena Tsikova, 1991; dir. Boyan Slavov, 2002; dir. Ventsislav Asenov, 2006).
In 2025, we are hosting a series of lectures by the American theater scholar and Gombrowicz expert Professor Allen J. Kuharski, a performance by the Argentinian artist Javier Pittorino, and a conversation between the two of them:
- Witold Gombrowicz’s Theatrophobia: The Playwright and His Double (October 14th, 2025, 3–4:15 p.m., Sofia)
- Incubation and Improvisation: Devised Ensemble Physical Theater in the United States and Poland (October 17th, 2025, 3–4:15 p.m., Sofia)
public lectures by Professor Allen J. Kuharski, PhD (Swarthmore College, USA)
https://fb.me/e/3w1gMXSL0 Book your spot here.
- I Saw a Similar Desire in the Tumult (The Vice Versa of the Form) theatrical-musical performance (October 14th, 2025, 8:30–9:40 p.m., Sofia) by Javier Pittorino (Argentina)
- followed by a discussion between A. Kuharski and J. Pittorino (October 14th, 2025, 9:40-10 p.m., Sofia)
https://fb.me/e/8u4zhp1LJ Book your spot here.
Sofia: Alter Ego International Theatre Festival, Sofia University St. Kl. Ohridski, Theatre-Laboratory Alma Alter, October 14th & 17th 2025, 3 p.m. Book your spot here.
Possible informal meeting with the guests: October 15th, 2025. Please fill in this form by Oct. 10th if interested.
Veliko Turnovo: University of Veliko Turnovo St. Cyril and St. Methodius, Corpus 2, Hall 301 (Slavonic Library), October 13th, 2025, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. https://fb.me/e/38SkgAnyM
Plovdiv: Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv, Rectorate – University Theatre, October 16th, 2025, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. https://fb.me/e/6OGanv9Kl
Allen J. Kuharski (Professor Emeritus/Senior Research Scholar, Swarthmore College) is a set designer, director, dramaturge, translator, performance curator, editor, Gombrowicz scholar, and critic. He writes on contemporary American, Polish, and LGBTQ+ theater, directors, and directing practice, and ensemble-based/devised/physical performance. His professional and scholarly work encompasses dance, opera, and theater performance. Kuharski has taught in the Department of Theater at Swarthmore College (1990–2021), at the University of California at Berkeley, the graduate program in theatre at Villanova University, and in the MFA Program in Devised Performance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Held the Stephen Lang Chair of Performing Arts at Swarthmore College (2010–2020). He recently directed an original devised dance theater piece titled Bezkresy (Withoutlands), performed by graduate students in the Department of Dance in the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, which included excerpts from Gombrowicz’s Historia and The Marriage (Ślub).
- Witold Gombrowicz’s Theatrophobia: The Playwright and His Double
(abstract) No playwright was so deliberately distanced from his own work in performance as Witold Gombrowicz. While courageously open regarding sexuality and desire, including his own, he demonstrated a profound avoidance behavior around the concrete theatrical embodiment of his writing. The inevitable mutability of a performance text in the organic collaborative process of theatrical creation generated a unique phobia and even panic in the writer, even as such interhuman mutability was integral to his artistic, psychological, and philosophical originality. At the same time, no writer has inspired such wild proliferations of the imagination in theater artists around the world—and continues to do so. (40-minute lecture followed by a 30-minute discussion)
- Incubation and Improvisation: Devised Ensemble Physical Theater in the United States and Poland
(abstract) Devised ensemble physical performance in both the United States and Poland began in the 1960s with the selective embrace of scarcity (“poor theater”) in the service of a different understanding of artistic freedom and richness. The paradox of this history can be summed up in the duality of “improvisation” with “incubation” — such spare, light-footed, and improvisation-based performance also requires a significant investment in training, collective creation practices, and a broad intellectual foundation for the goal of the actor-creator to be successfully realized. (40-minute lecture followed by a 30-minute discussion; featured in the program of the Literary Meetings series of the English and American Studies Dept., Sofia University)
Javier Pittorino is an Argentinian musician, composer, and artist deeply inspired by the work of Witold Gombrowicz. https://linktr.ee/javierpittorino
Vi en el tumulto un deseo parecido (La viceversa de la forma) // I Saw in the Tumult a Similar Desire (The Vice Versa of the Form), directed by Javier Pittorino. intertwines theatrical songs, live scenes, readings, and recitals, by fusing music, literature, and psychoanalysis. It offers a fragmentary experience where word and body unfold without apparent coordinates. This experimental show creates an immersive connection between Gombrowicz’s work and the audience’s experience. Using voice, electric guitar, and dramatized scenes, Pittorino interprets pieces such as Malaxación (featured in Revista Witolda, 2017) and El Merodeador (composed for the 2nd International Witold Gombrowicz Congress in Buenos Aires, 2019). In addition, he incorporates dramatized readings from Ferdydurke and other texts, engaging the audience in a vivid dialogue with Gombrowicz’s legacy. The performance also includes interactive theatrical improvisations, inviting the audience to reinterpret the emotions and themes at the heart of Gombrowicz’s work. Pittorino aims to dissolve the traditional boundary between performer and spectator, creating a sensory and thought-provoking experience.
Alter Ego Theatre Festival is one of the biggest alternative festivals in Sofia, Bulgaria – a place that gathers artists, dancers, theatre directors, and critics from all over the world.
International research and educational dissemination project WITOLD GOMBROWICZ BEYOND BORDERS (Institute for Literature, BAS), supported by the Polish Institute in Sofia, Theatre-Laboratory Alma Alter, Swarthmore College initiated by Witold Gombrowicz in Bulgaria in partnership with Sofia University St. Kl. Ohridski (Slavonic Studies; Classic and Modern Studies), Theatrical College “Luben Groys”, University of Veliko Turnovo St. Cyril and St. Methodius (Philological Studies), Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv (Philological Studies, Pedagogical Studies), New Bulgarian University (Center for Theory of Arts and Contemporary Art Practice), Sofia Literature and Translation House.