Disgrace as part of the Malta Festival

Disgrace — a performance about guilt, violence, and responsibility. It was a story that left no room for indifference. The adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s novel became a theatrical tale about the consequences of power, violence, and personal downfall.

In 2012, as part of the Malta Festival Poznań, the play Disgrace was staged, based on Coetzee’s Booker Prize–winning novel. Directed by Kornél Mundruczó, the production combined, as in his earlier works, elements of documentary with theatrical fiction. The story follows David Lurie, a middle-aged professor of English literature from Cape Town, accused of harassing a student and dismissed from the university. Stripped of his job, privileges, and respect, he retreats to the countryside to live with his daughter, confronting reality and reevaluating his life.

The performance explored themes of responsibility, guilt, and social tension. Particularly, the relations between Black and white South Africans. It revealed how easily one can lose status and how difficult it is to accept personal fault. According to Mundruczó, Coetzee’s novel resonates with issues relevant to Europe as well: the legacy of domination, unspoken guilt, and social divisions.

The staging took on the form of a reality show, confronting viewers with an image of contemporary society — still entangled in hierarchies and prejudice. Following the performance, on July 3, a discussion with the director expanded the context and deepened reflection on its message.