The Doll

About the production

The legendary Polish-British author Joseph Conrad (»Heart of Darkness«) placed his Polish colleague Bolesław Prus (1847–1912) on a par with the eminent English novelist Charles Dickens. In Germany, at least, this did Prus little good: his 1,200-page work »The Doll« (1890) was barely noticed west of the Oder and Neisse rivers. In Poland, however, Bolesław Prus has long since secured his place in literary history. The monument erected in his honour on Warsaw’s Royal Route stands almost four metres tall. 

The Swiss publisher Kampa has put an end to the German ignorance regarding Prus with a resounding success, thanks to a highly acclaimed new translation of the work by Lisa Palmes and Lothar Quinkenstein, published in 2024. Their masterful translation offers a fresh discovery of the Polish answer to Leo Tolstoy’s »Anna Karenina«. Prus unfolds an infinitely rich social panorama of Warsaw at the turn of the 19th century, set against the backdrop of the rising middle class and the aristocracy, and delivers brilliant studies of social milieu.  

Why this historical material seems so relevant (once again) today that, following several 20th-century film adaptations, »Die Puppe« is being given yet another Polish cinematic adaptation this year and Netflix is working on a series based on it, but also why »Lalka« (original title) is a literary masterpiece that continues to set standards to this day: Lisa Palmes and Lothar Quinkenstein will discuss this on the evening in the atmospheric Garden Hall of the Baroque Altdöbern Castle with Thoralf Czichon, literary dramaturg of the Lausitz Festival. The reading of selected passages immerses the listener in the novel’s rich tapestry of voices. 

A collaboration between Friends of the Rohkunstbau Association and Lausitz Festival

Our tip:

Running concurrently with the event at Altdöbern Castle is the 31st Rohkunstbau exhibition, »Die Kunst des Überschreitens« (»The Art of Transgression«), curated by Christoph Tannert, featuring works by 16 contemporary artists. Since 2022, the exhibitions organised by Rohkunstbau – founded in 1994 – have been held at Altdöbern Castle.

As part of this collaboration, there is an opportunity to take part in an exclusive one-hour curator-led tour of the exhibition at 6 p.m. A limited number of combined tickets are available for this.