Great John Barrymore, Teatr STU

A portrait of a fallen genius and theatrical legend — the story of an artist longing to once again stand in the spotlight. The play Great John Barrymore is a moving, self-ironic journey through the life of an actor torn between art and addiction.

On April 10, 2018, at Aula Artis in Poznań, audiences witnessed Jerzy Trela’s extraordinary performance as John Barrymore — a Broadway and Hollywood star of the 1920s, entangled in a life of brilliance and painful downfall. In the play directed by Krzysztof Jasiński, produced by Kraków’s Teatr STU, the actor attempts once more to perform Richard III — aided by whiskey, a prompter, and the remnants of his charisma.

This monodrama is about greatness and weakness, stage death and the longing for applause, resonating with questions about the meaning of artistic life and the inevitability of oblivion.