BOOK REVIEW 65 theatre is at once a school, a library, a political forum, even a place of worship, and only secondarily a place of recreation. Having set out the background Karpinski gives a detailed account of Wajda's growth in theatre in three definite phases, each significant and different from the other. The first phase marks the period of training and stylistic exploration. The second phase is filled with flawed and abortive productions, vacillation and indecision—a phase which made Wajda leave theatre altogether. The third phase is the most mature and a period of outstanding theatrical creations—The Possessed (1971, November Nights (1974), The Danton Affair (1975), Nasiasya Filippova (1977), Antigone (1984), and Crime and Punishment (1984).The three phases are also interlinked with the films Wajda made during this period. Karpinski consciously builds a production notebook for each work that Wajda directed, from the first rehearsals to the final performances, including details such as his interpretations, innovations, use of scenic backgrounds and music. Through his text and photographs Karpinski presents a film-like tapestry in front of the reader's eyes. This he achieves not only through descriptive passages, but by the inclusion Of several interviews with Wajda and reactions from the press and the public. A significant portion of one such interview with Wajda is as follows. Q. You are both a film and theatre director and you have often been asked about the relation of one art form to the other in your creative work. A few years ago you gave this reply: 'Film making is my profession but I also need a hobby.' But currently in Poland you are working only in theatre. Ans. I never try to mix the two. When I am working in the theatre I look for the theatrical. For me the theatre is a convention, the relationship between the actors and a live audience. Cinema is a photograph of life, a sort of imitation, the possibility to create something that gives us the impression of real life. When I work in theatre I try to forget that I was ever a film director. I must admit though that after working in film for so long —and it must be all of 30 years —I sometimes need new inspiration and I find that to a large extent in the theatre. The fact that I am not making any films in Poland at present is not of my own choosing. This state of affairs was brought about by certain events. At the moment I do not envisage a film that I could make in Poland. While discussing a particular play that Wajda was creating, Karpinski gives us an account of the author-director relationship, the most interesting examples being Wajd^'s prominent interaction with Dostoyevsky, Stanislaw Wyspianski, Stanislaw Przbyszennba. Among the works of Dostoyesky that he produced the most significant are The Possessed, an adaptation by Albert Camus, and Nastasya Filippova,