Theatre in Poland - Grotowski

Grotowski

Though arising from the same roots, a totally different attempt to renew theatre was undertaken by Jerzy Grotowski. Aiming for the creation of a performance as a selfless act of sacrifice, he carried out the second great reform, after Konstanty Stanisławski's, of the actor's art, and his book Towards a Poor Theatre is still one of the most important textbooks in drama schools the world over. The productions put on by Grotowski's Theatre Laboratory, such as Acropolis (Wyspiański's drama, re-set in a concentration camp), The Constant Prince (after Calderon-Słowacki) or Apocalypsis cum figuris, are among twentieth-century world theatre's most important achievements, still points of reference for many artists. Among others, Peter Brook, Eugenio Barba, Marketa Kimbrell, Richard Schechner and Andre Gregory have derived inspiration from Grotowski's work. Over the last decade of his life, Grotowski had been investigating the possibility of creating a dramatic structure whose effect would be similar to that of a religious ceremony. After his death (1999), the work was continued by his students, Thomas Richards and Mario Biagini, leading the Workcenter, founded by Grotowski in Pontedera in Italy.

Grotowski's work has also influenced many Polish theatre artistes. Włodzimierz Staniewski, who, after some years of close collaboration with Grotowski, finally rebelled, founded the "Gardzienice" Centre for Theatrical Practice in 1977 in a small village near Lublin. Today, 25 years later, this centre is world famous and Staniewski's method of acting, known as "theatre ecology," has been numbered among the most important of the twentieth century. The most characteristic aspect of "Gardzienice" is its treatment of theatre as one of many various cultural activities, including expeditions to areas inhabited by people holding onto folk traditions (e.g., the Eastern parts of Poland, Lemko villages or the Ukrainian Hucul region), and a strong link between art and the environment from which it arises. The productions themselves, unusually intense and filled with music, movement and dramatic singing - recall the fundamental myths of East and West. For several years, Staniewski has been particularly interested in Ancient Greece as a source of European culture and spirituality. After Apuleius' Metamorphoses (performed in Germany, the USA, the United Kingdom and Spain, among other countries) he brought into being, with "Gardzienice", a production of Eurypides' Elektra, blazing new trails in his theatrical search. From the ranks of Włodzimierz Staniewski's group have come the founders of many active and uncommonly interesting centres, and not just connected with theatre.

In Sejny, there is the Borderland Foundation, created by Krzysztof Czyżewski, a one-time Gardzienice collaborator. One of "Borderland's" forms of work is theatre (e.g., a production of Szymon Anski's Dybbuk), and its aim is to raise the consciousness of the inhabitants of the borderlands regarding the unique richness of their cultural tradition, which has for centuries linked Polish, Jewish, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and even Tatar influences. In common with Czyżewski, the founder of the "Music of the Eastern Lands" Foundation, Jan Bernad, also came from Gardzienice, and has devoted himself to gathering and reconstructing the rich multiethnic traditions of the ancient music from the Eastern Borders for years.

During the Sixties and Seventies, at the same time as Grotowski's work, the movement of social and politically engaged theatre was also developing in Poland. At first, it was, above all, a rebellious student theatre, later, during the period of martial law, the movement also accepted professionals, who organised productions for the underground Home Theatre. One specific form of political rebellion through theatre was promoted by Wrocław's Orange Alternative, an informal group which organised mass events poking fun at the symbols and ceremonies of officialdom. After the regaining of sovereignty in 1989, this movement weakened, but recently it has been reborn as an anticapitalist and antiwar movement. The most important centre for this kind of activity is Poznań, where, alongside the once famous and still active Theatre of the Eighth Day (the antiglobalist production Summit), the Travel Agency Theatre operates. One of its most important achievements is the open-air production Carmen Funebre, created under the influence of events in the former Yugoslavia and shown all over the world.

Another developing stream of theatre in Poland is so-called visual theatre, using pictures above all, and almost completely avoiding the spoken word. Its originator is considered to be Józef Szajna (1922), an artist whose collaboration with theatre began with stage design, went on to direction, and, since the seventies, the creation of theatrical productions employing striking pictures referring to expressionist and surrealist aesthetics. The unique form of Szajna's theatre arose both from his artistic and personal experiences (during WWII he was a concentration camp prisoner). They were based on a vision of a deformed world in which battles are fought over the basic human values, which are constantly under threat. Szajna's most famous productions, also performed abroad, are Dante, Cervantes, and Replica, which directly relate to his traumatic wartime experiences.

Currently, the leading representative of visual theatre is Leszek Mądzik, the founder of the Visual Stage at the Catholic University of Lublin. He has, for many years, put on productions that are a kind of theatrical meditation, touching on existential and religious topics.

Close to this stream are the strongly theatrical happenings of Jerzy Kalina as well as the theatrical activities of Warsaw's Academy of Movement. Speaking of the borderline between art and theatre, it is also worth recalling that there are still active performance artists in Poland. Polish experimental theatre has been counted among the most interesting in Europe, evidence of which are regular prestigious Fringe First awards from the Edinburgh Festival. In recent years, for example, the Travel Agency, Wierszalin, Kana, Song of the Goat, and Provisorium theatres have been recognised in this way.

During recent years in Poland, there has been a boom in musical theatre. Alongside the world-famous composers and singers, Polish directors of opera are rated ever more highly. The most important among this group has, for years, been Ryszard Peryt, collaborating with the Warsaw Chamber Opera (organising the annual Mozart Festival, among others) and the National Opera. His speciality is the production of oratorios, among which the theatrical version of Verdi's Requiem, which has been performed in Moscow's Red Square, stands out. Recent seasons have been a period of great operatic success for the film director Mariusz Treliński, who has aroused the interest of New York's Metropolitan Opera. Critical acclaim has also been enjoyed by the opera stage designs of Andrzej Majewski. Growing popularity is also enjoyed by dance theatre. In addition to classical ballet, whose best groups have for years been linked with opera halls, contemporary dance groups have been appearing since the Sixties and Seventies. Among the most important are Poznań's Polish Theatre of Dance, founded by Conrad Drzewiecki and currently led by Ewa Wycichowska, and Wrocław's "Pantomima", founded by Henryk Tomaszewski (1919–2001). Since the nineties, both Bytom (Silesian Dance Theatre) and Kraków have become important centres, hosting festivals which attract dancers from all over the world.