Creation of the show “So-called humankind led astray” after the works of Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz which were not translated into Ukrainian is the joint Polish and Ukrainian theatrical project of the Warsaw theatre “Kolo” and Kharkiv theatre “Arabeski”. The works were translated by Mykhailo Barbara, actor of the theatre “Arabeski” and singer of the band “Mertvyi Piven”.

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (pen name “Witkacy”) (1885-1939) was a Polish writer, playwright, painter, one of the most original Polish artists and art theorists of the interwar period. Witkiewicz’s legacy consists of graphic art, painting, photos, dramas and stories. He gave a lot of attention to philosophy and theory of art.

The focus of aesthetic reflections of Witkacy was the Absolute Form, i.e. the essence of being manifested through an art form. Witkacy denied the cognitive function of art related to direct reflection of reality, and any kind of didactics. In Witkiewicz’s opinion, metaphysical feelings that are the source of art, religion and philosophy, are disappearing from the modern world.