Warsaw Contemporary Theater

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Contemporary Theater Warsaw (2017)

The Contemporary Theater Warsaw ( Polish Teatr Współczesny w Warszawie ) is a Polish theater that has been operating in Warsaw since 1949 and mainly stages modern Polish and Western chamber plays and dramas. The theater is located at 13 Mokotowska Street in Warsaw.

history

Chamber theater in Łódź

The theater was founded in 1945 as a chamber theater of the soldiers' house ( Polish Teatr Kameralny Domu Żołnierza ) in Łódź . Initially, Erwin Axer , Michał Melina , Kazimierz Rudzki and Jerzy Wyszomirski ran the theater together. On November 10, 1945, the first play Pigmalion was performed by George Bernard Shaw under the direction of Michał Melina, who a short time later took over the directorship.

Warsaw Contemporary Theater

After the nationalization of all theaters in the People's Republic of Poland in 1949, the theater was relocated to Warsaw and renamed Contemporary Theater. In the early years, the theater became known for staging Polish plays under the direction of Erwin Axer: Niemcy by Leon Kruczkowski in 1949, Zwykła Sprawa by Adam Tarn in 1950 and Dom z kart by Emil Zegadłowicz in 1953. Between 1955 and 1957 it was briefly under one unified management with the National Theater in Warsaw . At that time, the long-time director Erwin Axer took over the management of the theater. Western European pieces were included in the repertoire since the second half of the 1950s, such as Czekając na Godota by Samuel Beckett in 1957, Biedermann i podpalaczy by Max Frisch in 1959 and Kariera Artura Ui by Bertolt Brecht in 1962. At that time, Henryk Borowski , Irena Eichlerówna , Tadeusz Fijewski , Tadeusz Łomnicki , Halina Mikołajska , Zofia Mrozowska and Danuta Szaflarska at the theater.

In the 1960s, the theater enjoyed particular popularity among Warsaw's educated bourgeoisie due to its subtle productions and faithfulness to the text. The plays Trzy Siostry by Anton Chekhov in 1963, Tango by Sławomir Mrożek in 1965 and Dochodzenie by Peter Weiss in 1966, directed by Jerzy Kreczmar, the plays Samoobsługa by Harold Pinter 1962 and Kto się boi Virginii Woolf? by Edward Albee in 1965 and, under the direction of Konrad Swinarski, the pieces Czarowna noc and Zabawa by Sławomir Mrożek in 1964.

In the 1970s, the theater lost its relevance and some well-known actors such as Tadeusz Łominicki and Andrzej Łapicki left the house. Nonetheless, Mrożek had his dramas Szczęśliwe Wydarzenie 1973 and Emigranci 1975 premiered here. In addition, Andrzej Wajda with Play Strindberg by Friedrich Dürrenmatt in 1970, Aleksander Bardini with Pokój na godziny by Pavel Landovksý in 1971 and Jan Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen in 1975 and Zygmunt Hübner with Sama słodycz by Ireneusz Iredyński in 1973 were guest directors. The theater was able to celebrate a success with the production of Największa świetość by Ion Dru unteră under the direction of Maciej Englert in 1977.

In 1981 Maciej Englert took over the management and worked closely with Krzysztof Zaleski and Janusz Wińsiewski . In their productions they refrained from making any direct reference to political events in the country, such as the declaration of martial law . Contemporary dramas continued to be performed in the 1980s, but the program was expanded to include comedies and farces ( Jak się kochają by Alan Aycbourn 1983). One of the most important events was the premiere of the play Mistrz i Małgorzata based on Michail Bulgakow in 1986.

In the 1990s, mainly chamber plays and contemporary pieces were performed under the direction of Englert and Axer. These include Wdowy in 1992 and Miłość na Krymie by Mrożek in 1994 and U celu by Thomas Bernhard in 1997 . On stage, among other things, were Henryk Bista , Maja Komorowska , Krzysztof Kowalewski , Krzysztof Wakuliński and Zbigniew Zapsiewicz on.

Since 2000 the theater has worked with Agnieszka Glińska . Englert also directed the Polish world premieres of Odwrót (The Retreat from Moscow) by William Nicholson in 2000 and Wniebowstąpienie based on Tadeusz Konwicki in 2003.

Directors

Web links

Commons : Warsaw Contemporary Theater  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Monika Mokrzycka-Pokora: Teatr Współczesny w Warszawie. In: culture.pl . October 2003, accessed August 18, 2020 (Polish).

Coordinates: 52 ° 13 '8.4 "  N , 21 ° 1' 1.8"  E