Krystian Lupa’s involvement with Thomas Bernhard's work began with KALKWERK, creating a production based on his own adaptation and interpretation of the Austrian author's novel. Kalkwerk, a 1970 novel with a surrealist tendency, is the psychologically complex story of Konrad, a mentally incarcerated scientist, haunted by his obsessive work, who holds his wife hostage in an abandoned factory. This production quickly started to be seen as a great metaphysical treaty, at the same time as its exceptional interpretation moulded the image of the physical and mental suffering of a man who tries to find meaning in a world governed by routine.

Adaptation, scenography and production: Krystian Lupa
Camera Operators: Ernest Dyczek, Marek Feliks Nowicki 
Music: Jacek Ostaszewski Interpretação: Piotr Skiba, Andrzej Hudziak, Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Zbigniew Kosowski, Bolesław Brzozowski, Paweł Miśkiewicz, Paweł Kruszelnicki, Krzysztof Głuchowski