world-scenography-1975-1990-page-220_7029597561_o
World Scenography 1975-1990 page 220
The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ
(Passio et mors Domini Nostri Iesu Christi secundum /
Pasja) Andrzej Majewski (Poland)
Set Design
Andrzej Majewski had always insisted that his stage designs were born out of the spirit of painting. His directing debut confirmed this. In this architecturally constructed setting, Majewski saw the gospel of Luke
most of all through the words of the composer: “Passion is the suffering and death of Christ, but also the suffering and death of Auschwitz, the tragic experience of mid-20th-century humanity.” In the first scene, a platform in the shape of a Greek cross rose from
the trapdoor—the symbol of martyrdom and death. A 170-member choir stood on it. Human plaster casts slowly emerged from the darkness, emphasized by a painterly use of lighting to show dynamic movement against a static setting. In the second part, the sky gradually revealed a symmetrical, filled with the remains of the tomb cross— symbol of contemporary suffering. In its upper part Majewski placed a mass of human bodies, symbolizing martyrdom in the gas chambers,
while beneath it a choir sang “Pulver mortis Et in deduxisti me” (“The dust of death has enveloped me.”) In the finale, darkness swallowed everything but a tormented body—the figure of Christ.
Images posted with permission by editors
world-scenography-1975-1990-page-220_7029597561_o
World Scenography 1975-1990 page 220
The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ
(Passio et mors Domini Nostri Iesu Christi secundum /
Pasja) Andrzej Majewski (Poland)
Set Design
Andrzej Majewski had always insisted that his stage designs were born out of the spirit of painting. His directing debut confirmed this. In this architecturally constructed setting, Majewski saw the gospel of Luke
most of all through the words of the composer: “Passion is the suffering and death of Christ, but also the suffering and death of Auschwitz, the tragic experience of mid-20th-century humanity.” In the first scene, a platform in the shape of a Greek cross rose from
the trapdoor—the symbol of martyrdom and death. A 170-member choir stood on it. Human plaster casts slowly emerged from the darkness, emphasized by a painterly use of lighting to show dynamic movement against a static setting. In the second part, the sky gradually revealed a symmetrical, filled with the remains of the tomb cross— symbol of contemporary suffering. In its upper part Majewski placed a mass of human bodies, symbolizing martyrdom in the gas chambers,
while beneath it a choir sang “Pulver mortis Et in deduxisti me” (“The dust of death has enveloped me.”) In the finale, darkness swallowed everything but a tormented body—the figure of Christ.
Images posted with permission by editors