“Drzewo” (“The Tree”) – a play by Wiesław Myśliwski, the outstanding Polish contemporary writer – is one of his four dramas (apart from “Złodziej”, 1973; “Klucznik”, 1978 and “Requiem dla gospodyni”, 2000). In “Drzewo”, Myśliwski presented the Polish village of the second half of the 20th century and, at the same time, created a metaphoric, symbolic reality. Defended by an old peasant Marcin Duda from being cut down, the title tree becomes embers of dramatic conflict and is a very complex symbol and the greatest carrier of hope, the endangered hope. The writer leaves us with confidence that the values symbolized with the tree will be protected and preserved by Duda’s daughter and grandson. The hope also manifests itself in supernatural reality which, together with the earthly dimension, exists in the poetic world of the drama as a harmonious whole. Deriving from the circle of the village culture, the motifs and believes presented in Myśliwski’s “Drzewo” seem to be universal and show the truth about human life.
