Le mani di Jacek Woszczerowicz, attore “di composizione”

ABSTRACT. The article aims to draw attention back to the art of Jacek Woszczerowicz, once a well-known and beloved Polish actor. It focuses on his peculiar acting style by analyzing two adaptations of stage dramas and a documentary of a theatrical masterpiece Richard III (1960). In particular, the author highlights Woszczerowicz’s work on gesture and the role played by hands in building characters. This brief survey will lead us to re-discover the deep process of cognition and experience realized dramatically by the artist and to understand why Jan Kott considered him “the first contemporary Shakespeare”, while Jerzy Grotowski praised him as the greatest “actor of composition”.