TWO TEATRES, TWO WORDLS. T. S. ELIOTS MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL DIRECTED BY JAROCKI (Dwa teatry, dwa swiaty. Mord w katedrze T. S. Eliota w rezyserii Jerzego Jarockiego)

The paper attempts a comparative analysis of two productions of Murder in the Cathedral by Jerzy Jarocki. They both premiered almost simultaneously in 1982: at St John's Cathedral in Warsaw and at the Wawel Cathedral in Cracow, and both were a reaction of the theatre community to the marshal law enforced in Poland a few months earlier. Despite many similarities, there were also many notable differences between them. The latter were a result of various factors: different ensembles, different localisation (city centre, and the Wawel Hill), and different character of the two cities, Warsaw and Cracow. The article focuses on the reception of T. S. Eliot's drama in the difficult marshal-law period in Poland and argues that the productions of Murder in the Cathedral directed by Jerzy Jarocki should not be confused with one another. The Warsaw production gravitated towards political commentary, and its heated atmosphere was typical for the theatre of political and social activism. The Cracow production, on the other hand, seemed to have taken on a more meditative and reflective mood.