„Almost everything had to be written from scratch” — stage adaptation of “Emil and the detectives” by Jerzy Kierst

Abstract

The subject of this article is the text analysis of the musical comedy “Emil and the detectives” by Jerzy Kierst. The comedy was based on the novel by Erich Kästner of the same title. It was staged twice in 1966 (once by the Musical Theater in Gdynia and once by Buffo “Syrena” Theater). In creating the scene adaptation of the novel and suiting it to the Polish audience Kierst introduced numerous changes: he shortened the plot, moved the setting to contemporary Warsaw, introduced Polish characters, added characters of girls to the group of detectives, and incorporated many new song lyrics. The aim of this article is to present the changes introduced by the playwright and the ways in which they may have influenced the reception of this version of “Emil and the detectives” by a child audience.