26.11.2006
The "Golden Sceptre" for Tadeusz Różewicz
"Golden Sceptre" - the award of Polish Culture Foundation and Bank Millennium went in 2006 to Tadeusz Różewicz, a poet, playwright and writer.
The Chapter consisting of: Beata Tyszkiewicz, Bogusław Kott, Agnieszka Duczmal, Aleksander Krawczuk, Wacław Sadkowski, Rafał Skąpski, Andrzej Strumiłło awarded it to T. Różewicz "for all his achievements as a poet, playwright and writer that are characteristic of overwhelming simplicity of artistic expression, and implacable and moralistic inquisitiveness cleaning the audience's sensitivity from all that limit it, blunt it and make it routine".
Tadeusz Różewicz
Tadeusz Różewicz was born in 1921. He belongs to a group of the greatest Polish poets and playwrights. His first poems, „Niepokój" (Fear (1947)), were a successful attempt to describe a war trauma in a new poetic language.
The next poems, like stories, reports or screenplays („Czerwona rękawiczka" (The Red Glove), „Czas który idzie" (Time That Comes), „Poemat otwarty" (Open Poem), „Opadły liście z drzew" (The Leaves Fell Off The Tree), "Przerwany egzamin" (The Suspended Exam), „Trzy kobiety" (Three Women)) are the pieces of canon of Polish literature, placing him in a group of the most brilliant artists. With his drama „Kartoteka" (The File - 1960), Tadeusz Różewicz opened a new chapter in the contemporary theatre.
The above-mentioned play and two years later written performance „Świadkowie albo nasza mała stabilizacja" (Witnesses or Our Little Stabilization) are the most frequently produced Polish dramas all over the world.
The innovative poetic and dramatic works by Różewicz has been well recognised worldwide, which is proven by a long list of translations of his works into 48 languages. Their power means building a universal image of a contemporary man looking for the forms of expressing his existential fear. A term „an everyday poet" is the simplest description of his interests. Tadeusz Różewicz's last work called „Wyjście" (Exit) was released in 2005.
The „Złote Berło" ceremony was accompanied with a poetic performance, „Słowo poety" (Poet's Word) directed by Kazimierz Kutz and played by: Janusz Gajos, Olgierd Łukaszewicz, Daniel Olbrychski, Jerzy Radziwiłowicz and Zbigniew Zamachowski.
According to the regulations of the award, Tadeusz Różewicz gave so called „Małe Berło" (Small Sceptre) to a talented artist of the young generation, Tadeusz Dąbrowski (born in 1979), who is a poet, essayist and literature critic, one of the editors of literature bi-monthly „Topos".
Tadeusz Różewicz is the eighth winner of „Złote Berło", the award established by Fundacja Kultury Polskiej and Bank Millennium and awarded every year. So far it has been received by: Jerzy Giedroyc, Wojciech Kilar, Stanisław Lem, Roman Polański, Ewa Podleś, Sławomir Mrożek and Janusz Gajos. This award is a sculpture by Krzysztof Nitsch and 110 thousand zlotys.
For Bank Millennium, the participation in funding and giving the award "Złote Berło" is continuation of its long-lasting engagement in supporting the artistic events of high culture in scope of the Bank's social mission.
