Polish Theater in Wroclaw

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Teatr Polski we Wrocławiu

The Teatr Polski we Wrocławiu (Polish Theater in Wroclaw) is the most important theater in the Polish city ​​of Wroclaw . It is known for its experimental ensemble and its diverse repertoire, which critically examines the city, the nation and the present.

The director of the house was Krzysztof Mieszkowski from 2006 to 2016 .

History of the house

The Teatr Polski was founded on January 11, 1949 and opened on December 20, 1950 in the building of the rebuilt Wroclaw Theater .

Wroclaw theater until 1945

The people of Wroclaw were traditionally enthusiastic about the theater. In 1677 a ballroom was built which, in addition to ball sports, was also intended to serve as a riding arena and theater. With this, the traveling troops found a covered venue in the city. In 1742, Breslau granted the Vienna-born actor Franz Schuch the Elder the privilegium privativum for his acting troupe . Schuch acquired citizenship in Breslau and had a theater built on the Auf der Kalten Asche property in which his troupe gave performances from 1755 to 1764. The theater was ultimately run by Johann Christian Wäser , and after his death by his widow Maria Barbara Wäser . The heyday of the Wroclaw stage followed in the first two decades of the 19th century, played with drama and opera, managed by a share association of 38 Wroclaw citizens. From 1804 to 1806 Carl Maria von Weber worked in Breslau, only 17 years old when he was appointed Kapellmeister. A number of new buildings were erected in the 19th century: the City Theater on Schweidnitzer Strasse in 1841, the Lobe Theater in 1869 and the Thalia Theater. From the 1890s onwards, all of these theaters were gradually taken over by the Viennese writer and theater director Theodor Löwe (1855–1935), who dominated the theater scene in Wroclaw for almost four decades.

The Breslau businessman Paul Auerbach commissioned the Berlin architect Walter Hentschel to build a new theater, probably also in order to set a counterpoint to the lion empire . It was a functional building, technically state-of-the-art, and the largest theater in town with seating for 1,736 spectators. From the beginning, the new theater served as a stage for music theater, primarily for operettas and singspiel . The house opened in 1909, but in 1911 it was also under the direction of Löwe, who until 1913 determined the schedules for all four major theaters in Wroclaw. Then he leased Thalia and Lobe theaters, while the city theater was taken over by the city of Wroclaw under its own control. From 1913 until his retirement in private life in 1929, Löwe devoted himself entirely to the management of the theater, which he led as an operetta theater and in which the best singers in the German-speaking region made guest appearances.

In 1936 the house was renovated and from the 1936/37 season it was used as a multi-branch theater and the only theater in Wroclaw during the National Socialist years .

After the Second World War , Wroclaw 's German theater history ended when the People's Republic of Poland took possession of it . The city was renamed Wrocław , the entire population was expelled within a few years , the German language was banned and the city was settled exclusively with Poles .

Teatr Polski (1949 to 1996)

The Teatr Polski, built in 1996

Towards the end of the Second World War , the theater building was damaged, then largely demolished, but rebuilt in 1950. The opening premiere of Teatr Polski was dedicated to a theater text by the architect Jan Rojewski . The play was called The Brave Thousand and, in the spirit of socialist realism, described the tireless struggle of the Polish workers to repair the damage caused by the Nazi era and the Second World War. The now Polish audience was confronted with a completely new genre.

On the night of January 18-19, 1994, a fire destroyed the auditorium, whereupon the theater was rebuilt, this time according to plans by the Polish architect Wiktor Jackiewicz . The reopening premiere after the fire in January 1994 was staged by the famous film and theater director Andrzej Wajda . The performance took place on May 20, 1996 and was entitled Improwizacje wrocławskie (Wroclaw Improvisations).

Intendanz Mieszkowski (2006 to 2016)

In 2006, Krzysztof Mieszkowski took over the management of the theater and the ensemble in an effort to create an open house and a discourse. In 2014 the director presented a dramatization of Thomas Bernhard's wood cases .

Since the national conservative party PiS took over government after the parliamentary elections in 2015 , repression against Mieszkowski and the theater ensemble began. In November 2015, the Polish Minister of Culture Piotr Gliński wanted to prevent a performance of Elfriede Jelinek's Death and the Maiden . The reason for this was alleged sexual acts on stage, the staging violated "principles of social coexistence". The spokesman for the Archdiocese of Wroclaw also protested against the appearance of "foreign porn actors" (Czech actors were hired for the play). The premiere took place anyway; some protesters tried to block entry to the theater. Mieszkowski demanded the resignation of the Minister of Culture and accused him of an unprecedented attempt at censorship. Mieszkowski was then replaced in August 2016 after eleven years. The presenter Karolina Lewicka of the public television broadcaster TVP was also suspended after she asked Gliński critical questions about the cause. The 14-hour staging of the national drama of Adam Mickiewicz 's Die Totenfeier in February 2016 also sparked impetus from the national conservative government .

Current situation

The director Cezary Morawski , who was newly appointed from September 2016, was welcomed with a protest rally by large parts of the ensemble. Actors and directors fear that the freedom of art and the media would be restricted, that democracy and the rule of law would be eroded and that their work would be hindered by political control bodies. Morawski redesigned the ensemble by dismissing critically minded actors, discontinuing socially critical productions and replacing them with provincial national theater.

Venues

  • main building

  • Scena na Świebodzkim

  • Teatr Kameralny

The theater now has three venues: The Jerzy Grzegorzewski stage, named after the Polish director Jerzy Grzegorzewski , and the administration are located in the main building at 3 Gabrieli Zapolskiej Street, on the area of ​​the former Wroclaw Drama Theater. Inside the station building Świebodzki at pl. Orląt Lwowskich has another venue called Scena na Świebodzkim . The Teatr Polski also operates the Teatr Kameralny (Chamber Theater) in House 28 on Ulica Świdnicka , built in 1912 as a Chamber Light Theater, rebuilt in 1949 as the Lower Silesian Jewish Theater, but gradually merged with Teatr Polski between 1950 and 1955.

literature

  • Maximilian Schlesinger: History of the Breslau Theater. 1522-1841 (Volume 1). Berlin 1898.
  • Walter Meckauer (Ed.): The theater in Breslau and Theodor Loewe 1802-1917. Contributions by German poets and artists. Wroclaw 1917.
  • Herbert Stabenow: History of the Breslau theater during its heyday (1798-1823) , Breslau 1927
  • Bożena Grzegorczyk: Architektura i budownictwo teatralne we Wrocławiu od około 1770 roku do schyłku XIX wieku , Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, Wrocław 2000 (Polish)
  • Tomasz Majewski: Teatry dramatyczne Wrocławia w okresie rządów narodowosocjalistycznych 1933-1944 , Oficyna Wydawnicza ATUT Wrocławskie Wydawnictwo Oświatowe, Wrocław 2003 (Polish)

Web links

Commons : Polish Theater Wroclaw  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sybille Maurer-Schmoock: German Theater in the 18th Century , Walter de Gruyter 1982, ISBN 3-484-18071-4 , pp. 7 and 14f.
  2. ^ Österreichisches Musiklexikon : Löwe, Theodor (1855-1935), theater director and writer , accessed on September 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ On the process of the de-Germanization of Wroclaw see Gregor Thum : The foreign city. Wroclaw 1945 . Siedler, Berlin 2003, ISBN 978-3-88680-795-6 .
  4. ↑ Sabine Adler : "The theater is open to everyone" , city walk with Krzysztof Mieszkowski, Deutschlandradio Kultur , June 17, 2016, accessed on September 2, 2016.
  5. ↑ Polskie Radio : Kogo Krystian Lupa uśmierca w "Wycince"? , October 29, 2014, accessed on September 3, 2016. (Polish)
  6. ↑ Austria Press Agency : Polish government wanted to prevent Jelinek play , quoted here. according to: Der Standard (Vienna), November 23, 2015, accessed on September 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ Poland: A journalist on the hit list - WELT. Retrieved April 29, 2017 .
  8. ↑ RMF 24 : Cezary Morawski oficjalnie powołany na dyrektora Teatru Polskiego we Wrocławiu. "Nie jestem kilerem" Cezary Morawski officially appointed director of the Polish Theater in Wroclaw. "I'm not a killer" , August 30, 2016, accessed on September 2, 2016. (Polish, with pictures of the demonstration against the new director)
  9. ^ ORF (Vienna): Theater riot in Breslau , Ö1: Kulturjournal, September 2, 2016.
  10. ^ Polish government relies on confrontation ; Article in the online service of Deutschlandfunk from December 26, 2016

Coordinates: 51 ° 6 '4.4 "  N , 17 ° 1' 34.9"  E