Written by Kazimierz Braun on the basis of texts by 19th-century Polish poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid, the show presents Norwid as a symbol of the fate of an émigré.
Born in 1821 near Warsaw, Norwid left Poland in his early 20s and stayed for longer periods in Germany, Italy, France and the United States. He died in Paris in 1883.
The United Solo Festival writes on its website: “The rejected visionary, a homeless emigrant returns to us today, more than 200 years after his birth, as one of the greatest world poets, a contemporary innovator who delights, cheers, moves, and shocks with aesthetic radicalism."
Probosz, who emigrated from Poland in 1987 and currently lives in California, has told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that Norwid’s Return was "one of the most difficult tasks" for him in his career as an actor and director.
“To be on the stage alone for 90 minutes and deliver Norwid’s text in Polish, with English surtitles, was like climbing a vertical rock, having at the back of my mind the image of the poet wandering across the streets of New York,” he said.
"To bring Norwid back to New York and make the theatre a home for him was a crazy challenge," he added.
In 2018, Probosz won the award for Best Documentary Performance at the United Solo Festival for his role as Polish World War II hero Witold Pilecki in a monodrama that he also directed.
The United Solo Festival was founded in 2010 by Omar Sangare, who was born and trained as an actor in Poland. He has served as the event’s artistic director from the start.
(mk/gs)