'Ferdydurke' premieres tonight

By Susan Williams

The play is an adaptation from Witold Gombrowicz's once-banned novel of the same name, a book considered to be one of the most important works of 20th-century Polish literature—and one of its most shocking. Described by the New York Times as 'a tumultuous evening of physical theater using brutal wit and outrageous sexual commentary to ridicule authority and class distinctions,' the play begins with everyone's worst nightmare—a writer forced to revert to adolescence and return to high school.

Ferdydurke and the lecture are part of a conference, 'The Other in Polish Theatre and Drama," sponsored by IU's Polish Studies Center.

'Ferdydurke'

The satire will be performed by Teatr Prowizorium/Kompania Teatr of Lublin, Poland. Friday, Feb. 15 8 p.m. in English Saturday, Feb. 16 3 p.m. in Polish 8 p.m. in English Tickets for the play are $5 for general public, $3 for students and may be purchased at the door before each performance. ••• Public lecture "The Virtual Theatre of Witold Gombrowicz," by Allen Kuharski, who adapted the English version of the play, Friday, Feb. 15 5 p.m., Fine Arts 102