Kazimierz Braun

Kazimierz Braun (born June 29, 1936 in Mokrsko Dolne) is a Polish director, writer, and scholar.[1]

Biography

Braun earned a master's degree in Polish literature from Poznań University in 1958, and a master's in directing from the Warsaw School of Drama in 1962. He earned a Ph.D. in letters from Poznań University in 1971, a habilitation in theatre from Wrocław University, and a habilitation in directing from the Warsaw School of Drama in 1988. He became a tenured professor at the University at Buffalo in 1989.

He made his debut as a professional theatre director in 1961, and as a professional television director in 1962. He has directed works at the Polish Theatre in Warsaw, Teatr Wybrzeże in Gdańsk, the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków, and Teatr Solskiego in Tarnów, as well as in Canada, Germany, Ireland, and the United States. He was the artistic director of Teatr Osterwy in Lublin from 1967–1971, and general and artistic director there from 1971–1974. He was general and artistic director of the Contemporary Theatre in Wrocław from 1975–1984, but was fired by the Communist authorities because of his oppositional activities.

Since 1985, Braun has lived and worked in the United States. He has directed at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, the Chicago Actors Ensemble, and Kavinoky Theatre in Buffalo. His best-known directorial works include plays by Cyprian Norwid (13 shows),[2] Tadeusz Różewicz (19 shows),[3] William Shakespeare (12 shows in Polish and English),[4] and Adam Mickiewicz (two shows). He has taught at Wrocław University, New York University, Swarthmore College, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University at Buffalo.

Braun has translated works from English, French, and Italian into Polish, and from Polish, French, and Russian into English.

Family

Braun's father, Juliusz Braun, was a lawyer, professor of ecology, Catholic activist, and political prisoner under Joseph Stalin. His mother was Elżbieta Korwin-Szymanowska. Both died in 1990.

Braun is married to Zofia Reklewska-Braun, a writer and theatre historian. They have three children (Dr. Monika Braun, a writer and academic; Grzegorz Braun, a filmmaker and writer; and Dr. Justyna Braun, an academic) and five granddaughters (Anna, Joanna, Aniela, Zofia, and Elżbieta).

Directing experience

Braun has directed dozens of theatre productions in Poland and the United States, including:[5]

  • 1961: Karol / On the Sea / Strip-tease (Sławomir Mrożek), Gdańsk
  • 1962: The Ring of a Great Lady (Cyprian Norwid), Warsaw
  • 1962: Two Theatres (Jerzy Szaniawski), Warsaw
  • 1963: Caucasian Chock Circle (Bertolt Brecht), Gdańsk
  • 1963: Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare), Warsaw
  • 1965: The Wedding (Stanisław Wyspiański), Toruń
  • 1967: November's Night (Wyspiański), Gdańsk
  • 1968: Hamlet (Shakespeare), Lublin
  • 1968: Kleopatra and Cezar (Norwid), Lublin
  • 1970: Interrupted Act (Tadeusz Różewicz), Lublin
  • 1970: Behind the Wings (Norwid), Kraków
  • 1971: The Ashes (Stefan Żeromski), director's adaptation, Television Theatre
  • 1972: The Deliverance (Wyspiański), Lublin
  • 1973: The Old Woman (Różewicz), Lublin
  • 1977: Operetta (Witold Gombrowicz), Wrocław
  • 1978: The Forefathers' Eve (Adam Mickiewicz), Wrocław
  • 1979: Birth Rate (Różewicz), director's adaptation, Wrocław
  • 1982: The Forefathers' Eve (Mickiewicz), director's adaptation, Wrocław
  • 1982: Twelfth Night (Shakespeare), Wrocław
  • 1983: The Plague (Albert Camus), director's adaptation, Wrocław
  • 1984: The Trap (Różewicz), Wrocław
  • 1986: Rhinoceros (Eugène Ionesco), Minneapolis
  • 1987: The Hunger Artist (Różewicz), Buffalo
  • 1988: The Shoemakers (Witkacy), Los Angeles
  • 1989: King Lear (Shakespeare), Buffalo
  • 1990: Immigrant Queen (Braun), Toronto
  • 1991: As You Like It (Shakespeare), Buffalo
  • 1995: Tango (Sławomir Mrożek), Knoxville, Tennessee
  • 1996: A Man for All Seasons (Robert Bolt), Buffalo
  • 1999: Richard III (Shakespeare), Buffalo
  • 2003: Europe (Jerzy Braun), Tarnów
  • 2004: Paderewski's Children (Braun), Buffalo
  • 2006: The Fall of a Stone House (Brandstaetter), Tarnów
  • 2006: Card Index Scattered (Różewicz), Buffalo
  • 2008: The Tales of Pola Negri (Braun), Toronto
  • 2010: The Book of Christopher Columbus (Paul Claudel), Steubenville, Ohio
  • 2011: Father Maximilian's Cell (Braun), Tarnów
  • 2012: Ordonka's Mysteries (Braun), Toronto
  • 2012: The Power and the Glory (Graham Greene), director's adaptation, Buffalo
  • 2013: The Tempest (Shakespeare), Buffalo

Scholarly books

[6]

  • 1967: Teofil Trzciński (with Zofia Reklewska-Braun), PIW, Warsaw
  • 1971: Cyprian Norwid’s Theatre Without Theatre, PIW, Warsaw
  • 1972: Theatre of Communion, Wyd. Literackie, Kraków
  • 1975: New Theatre in the World, WaiF, Warsaw
  • 1979: The Second Reform of Theatre, Ossolineum, Wrocław
  • 1982: Theatre Space, PWN, Warsaw
  • 1984: The Great Reform of Theatre, Ossolineum, Wrocław
  • 1994: Polish Theatre 1939-1989, Semper, Warsaw
  • 1996: A History of Polish Theatre 1939-1989, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut
  • 2000: Theatre Directing, Mellen Press, Lewiston, New York
  • 2003: A Concise History of Polish Theatre, Mellen Press, Lewiston
  • 2005: A Concise History of American Theatre, Wyd. UAM, Poznań
  • 2010: Lady Designer, Jadwiga Pożakowska, Muzeum Narodowe, Gdańsk
  • 2011: Brothers Adamowicz (with Zofia Reklewska-Braun), Wyd. Uniw. Rzeszowskiego
  • 2013: My Różewicz’s Theatre, Wyd. Uniw. Rzeszowskiego
  • 2014: My Norwid’s Theatre, Wyd. Uniw. Rzeszowskiego

Novels and plays
  • 1989: The Monument, Instytut Literacki, Paris
  • 1993: Helena: The Story of Modjeska, High Park Press, Toronto
  • 1996: Farewell to Alaska, PAX, Warszawa
  • 1996: The Story of Norwid: A One-Man Drama, Bernardinum, Pelplin
  • 1999: Day of Witness, Wyd. 4K, Bytom
  • 2003: A Bird on Stilts: Short Stories, Wyd. A. Marszałek, Toruń
  • 2005: Day of Witness (expanded edition), Wyd. Św. Wojciecha, Poznań
  • 2006: Radiation, Archiwum Emigracji, Toruń
  • 2008: Ten Days in People's Poland, Norbertinum, Lublin
  • 2011: Maximilianus, Wyd. Bratni Zew, Kraków
  • 2011: Tarnów’s Wind of Freedom, Wyd. Biblioteka Publiczna, Tarnów
  • 2013: Good Priests (with Zofia Reklewska-Braun), Bernardinum, Pelplin

Awards and honors
  • 1963: Best Director, Caucasian Chock Circle (Brecht), Toruń Theatre Festival
  • 1964: Best Director, Enchanted Circle (Rydel), Television Theatre Festival
  • 1965: Best Director, Actor (Norwid), Television Theatre Festival and Kalisz Theatre Festival
  • 1966: Best Director, The Wedding (Wyspiański), Toruń Theatre Festival
  • 1970: Best Director, Interrupted Act (Różewicz), Kalisz Theatre Festival
  • 1971: Medal for Merit to Culture, Poland
  • 1976: Medal for Educational Theatre, Poland
  • 1978: Gold Cross of Merit, Poland
  • 1979: Award for the Mise-en-Scène, Operetta (Gombrowicz), International Theatre Festival, Sitges, Spain
  • 1980: Golden Fredro Award for Director, Birth Rate (Różewicz), Wrocław
  • 1980: Japanese Foundation Award
  • 1984: Golden Fredro Award for Director, The Plague (Camus), Wrocław
  • 1985: Independent Culture Award, Poland
  • 1990: Guggenheim Foundation Award, United States
  • 1996: Director, Best Production in Buffalo, A Man for All Seasons (Bolt)
  • 1997: Chivalry Cross of the Polish Order of Merit
  • 2001: Aurum Literary Award, Toronto[7]
  • 2001: Fulbright Program, United States
  • 2003: Turzański Foundation Award, Canada
  • 2004: Minister of Education Award, Poland
  • 2005: Polish-American Congress Annual Award
  • 2005: Medal for Merit to Culture, Poland
  • 2005: Officer's Cross of the Polish Order of Merit
  • 2007: Medal for Merit to Culture, Poland
  • 2011: Golden Owl Award, Austria
  • 2011: Commander's Cross of the Polish Order of Merit

References
  1. Kto jest kim w Polsce, Edycja 1, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Interpress, 1984, p. 88-89. Edycja 2, 1989, p.127. Edycja 3, 1993, p. 75. Edycja 4, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo PAI, 2001, s. 81-82; Kto jest kim we Wrocławiu, Wrocław: Wydawnictwo FOX, 1999, p. 43-44. Marta Fik, Trzydzieści pięć sezonów, Warszawa: WAiF, 1981. p. 291; Informator Nauki Polskiej. Uczeni polscy za granicą,vol. 5, Warszawa: Ośrodek Przetwarzania Informacji, 2006, p. 35-36. Małgorzata Semil, Elżbieta Wysińska, Słownik Teatru Współczesnego, Warszawa: WAi F,1990, p. 38-39, drugie wydanie: Warszawa: PAN, Instytut Sztuki, 1980, p. 45-46; Złota Księga Nauk Humanistycznych, Gliwice: Mastermedia, 2013, p. 32; Theatrical Directors, Westport – London: Greenwood Press, 1994, p. 52-53; Who is Who in Polish America, New York: Bicentennial Publishing Corporation, 1996; Kazimierz Braun, International Artistic Advisor, Ambassador Theatre International Center, zoom.info, 2015; Five Thousand Personalities of the World, Raleigh, North Carolina: The American Biographical Institute, 1992, p. 50; International Who’s Who of Intellectuals, Cambridge, England: International Biographical Centre, 1992, p. 84-85; Men and Women of Distinction, Cambridge, England: International Biographical Centre, 1984, p. 56; Two Thousand Notable American Men, Raleigh, North Carolina: The American Biographical Institute, 1992, p. 36; Who’s Who in the World, Marquis Who’s Who, New Providence, New Jersey: A Reed Reference Publishing Company, 1994, p. 138; Kazimierz Braun, Culture.pl. [2014/05/23]; Kazimierz Braun, www.poles [2014/05/23].
  2. Antoni Dunajski, Kazimierz Braun wobec Cypriana Norwida, w: Kazimierz Braun, Mój teatr Norwida. Rzeszów: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, 2014. p.12-32.
  3. Justyna Hoffman, Grand Drame – Grand Théâtre in: Kazimierz Braun, Mój teatr Różewicza. Rzeszów: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, 2013, pp. 15-62.
  4. Kazimierz Braun, Z szekspirowskiego archiwum reżysera, in: Andrzej Żurowski, Szekspiromania, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 2013, pp. 103-121.
  5. Horyzonty teatru III. Bibliografia Kazimierza Brauna, oprac. Barbara Bułat, Toruń: Wyd. A. Marszałek, 2014, pp. 278-294.
  6. Wojciech Kaczmarek, Kazimierza Brauna historia teatru, in: Szkice o twórczości Kazimierza Brauna, pod red. Elżbiety Kosarzeckiej, Toruń: Wyd. A. Marszałek, 2004, pp. 55-77.
  7. "A Year of Literary Note for UB's Kazimierz Braun". www.buffalo.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
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