Mr Price, or Tropical Madness and Metaphysics of a Two- Headed Calf (Routledge Harwood Polish and Eastern European Theatre Archive, 12)

128 Pages·2001·0.46 MB·English

by  Stan Witkiewicz

Mr Price, Or Tropical Madness
and
Metaphysics of a Two-headed Calf
by
(cid:1)
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
Routledge Harwood Polish and East European Theatre Archive
Aseries of books edited by Daniel Gerould, Graduate School, City University of New York,
USA
Volume 1
To Steal a March on God
Hanna Krall
Translated and with an introduction by Jadwiga Kosicka
Volume 2
Alternative Theatre in Poland
1954–1989
Kathleen Cioffi
Volume 3
Country House
Stanisl⁄aw Ignacy Witkiewicz
Translated and with an introduction by Daniel Gerould
Volume 4
The Trap
.
Tadeusz Rózewicz
Translated by Adam Czerniawski
Volume 5
Polish Romantic Drama
Harold B. Segal
Volume 6
The Mannequins’ Ball
Bruno Jasienski
Translated and with an introduction by Daniel Gerould
Volume 7
Leading Creators in Twentieth-Century Czech Theatre
Jarka Burian
Volume 8
Encounters with Tadeusz Kantor
Krzysztof Miklaszewski
Edited and translated by George Hyde
Volume 9
Ireneusz Iredyn´ski: Selected one-act plays for radio
Edited by Kevin Windle
Please see the back of this book for other titles in the Routledge Harwood Polish and
East European Theatre Archive series
Mr Price,
Or Tropical Madness
and
Metaphysics of a
Two-headed Calf
(cid:1)
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
Edited and translated by
Daniel Gerould
First published 2002
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P4EE
Simultaneously published in the
USAand Canada by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.
© 2002 Taylor & Francis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Witkiewicz, Stanisl⁄aw Ignacy, 1885–1939.
[Mister Price. English]
Mr. Price, or, Tropical madness; and, Metaphysics of a two-headed calf/ by Stanisl⁄aw
Ignacy Witkiewicz.
p. cm. – (Routledge Harwood Polish and East European Theatre Archive; 12)
Translated by Daniel Gerould.
1. Witkiewicz, Stanisl⁄aw Ignacy, 1885–1939 – Translation into English. I. Title: Mr. Price,
or, Tropical madness; and, Metaphysics of a two-headed calf. II. Title: Mr. Price. III. Title:
Tropical madness. IV. Gerould, Daniel Charles, 1928– V. Witkiewicz, Stanisl⁄aw Ignacy,
1885–1939. Metafizyka dwuglowego cielecia. English. VI. Title: Metaphysics of a
two–headed calf. VII Title. VIII. Series.
PG7158.W52 M5713 2002
891.8’5272–dc21
2001048575
ISBN 0-203-21863-9 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-27407-5 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–27506–7(Print Edition)
To Paul Berman, American director of Witkacy,
for his exemplary productions of Mr. Priceand Metaphysics of a
Two-headed Calfand also The Water Hen, Gyubal Wahazar, and
The Madman and the Nun

Contents
Introduction to the Series ix
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction: Tropical Madness – Witkacy’s Journey to the East 1
Daniel Gerould
Mr. Price, or Tropical Madness(1920–1925) 11
by Stanisl(cid:1)aw Ignacy Witkiewicz
Translated by Daniel Gerould
Witkiewicz’s Foreword to Metaphysics of a Two-Headed Calf(1921) 57
Metaphysics of a Two-Headed Calf(1921) 61
by Stanisl(cid:1)aw Ignacy Witkiewicz
Translated by Daniel Gerould
Appendix: Witkacy’s Journey to the Tropics and Itinerary in
Ceylon 105
Daniel Gerould
vii

Introduction to the Series
The Routledge Harwood Polish and East European Theatre Archive makes
available in English translation major works of Poland’s dramatic
literature as well as monographs and critical studies on Polish and East
European playwrights, theatre artists and stage history. Although
emphasis is placed on the contemporary period, the archive also encom-
passes the nineteenth-century roots of modern theatre practice in
Romanticism and Symbolism. The individual plays will contain author-
itative introductions that place the works in their historical and theatrical
contexts.
Daniel Gerould
ix