National Theatre in Warsaw
General Director: Krzysztof Torończyk
Artistic Director: Jan Englert
3 Teatralny Square, 00-077 Warszawa
www.narodowy.pl

Created and initiated in 1765 by the king Stanislaw August Poniatowski. It was the first public stage in Poland on which a regular suite of Polish artists had been performing.
The first night of the theatre taken place on 19 November 1765 - it was a premiere of Bielawski's 'Intruders'. At the beginning the theatre was called 'national' due to the fact that the actors spoke in Polish language on the stage in the building, which was shared with French, German, and Italian theatre troops. In fact the theatre received his name of 'National theatre' after several years.

National Theatre at the beginning was to propagate the ideas of entering Poland to the world, of widely understood culture and science and it did, mainly thanks to its first repertoire author Franciszek Bohomolec.

After few years the theatre was given it's own place at Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street - a main road leading to the antique market place. The ceremonial opening of a playhouse took place at 15th anniversary of King's Poniatowski election. Thanks to the competition of international troops, Polish artists were mobilized to increase their skills and widening theatre's repertoire by creating new plays in national language. Until 1794 there have been about 190 new performances: original plays, foreign ones translated into Polish or covered and new pieces, played by the troop of about 20 artists.

Following years were the time of great popularity of National Theatre gained by great artists, directors like Wojciech Boguslawski, and the plays - Shakespeare's 'Othello' in Polish, Polish dramas of Mickiewicz, etc.

In 1968 the theatre began to be directed by Adam Hanuszkiewicz. This man not only mixed classical art with modern, popular one, but also has been performing many innovatory plays like 'Antygona' of Sofokles with young artists dressed in their every-day clothes or 'Balladyna' of Juliusz Slowacki, where the Goplana fairy drove a motorcycle. It was also the time of great Polish actors like Andrzej Lapicki or Daniel Olbrychski, who became real legends.

After a fire in 1985, National Theatre was moved to a building of Theatre on Wola where Jerzy Grzegorzewski created a play based on 'Dziady' of Adam Mickiewicz and began to engage young actors like Wojciech Malajkat and Zbigniew Zamachowski. The new director had been also playing Wyspianski's 'November's night', 'The Wedding' and many other plays.

From September 2003 the National Theatre has a new director - famous Polish actor Jan Englert.

Old Theatre of Helena Modrzejewska in Krakow
General Director: Ryszard Skrzypczak
Artistic Director: Mikolaj Grabowski
5 Jagiellonska Street, 31-010 Krakow
www.stary-teatr.krakow.pl

One of the oldest theatres in Poland, in 1991 gained a national scene status. Created and initiated in 1781 by Mateusz Witkowski - a Warsaw actor. It's been given its own place in 1799, where it stays even now. Jacek Kluszewski, the theatre's entrepreneur played there Polish pieces, which made the theatre a place of national character. Almost forty years later Hilary Meciszewski, who took care of the theatre's good name, was directing the theatre and the level of performed arts, brought the romantic drama to Krakow and tried to modernize the actors' play.

In 19th century the theatre was directed by Stanislaw Kozmian, who made the repertoire very national as he played all Slowacki's dramas, most of Fredro's arts, Kochanowski, and Mickiewicz's piece also. Apart from Polish plays he performed Schiller and Goethe's 'Faust'. What was the most important for Kozmian, was the actor's play - that's why there were many stars in Krakow's troop: Helena Modrzejewska, Feliks Benda, Boleslaw Leszczynski and Wincenty Rapacki. 1983 was the end of Old Theatre's existence. In that time there was a new playhouse opened (today's Slowacki Theatre) and the old place remained only a stage for occasional performances. Re-built twice, the building had been modernizes by Germans during the occupancy. The Old Theatre was reactivated just after the World War II, in 1945. The actor's play level was very high, as there were such great artists (young then) as Gustaw Holoubek and Tadeusz Lomnicki. Tadeusz Kantor, famous director, showed an 'Odys' return' of Wyspianski and prepared the stage design for 'Cide' of Corneille, which was shown at Jagiellonian Bibliotheque's court.

In 1956 the theatre got the name of Helena Modrzejewska and started being directed by Wladyslaw Krzeminski, who wanted to play both Polish and foreign plays but with a doze of modernity created mainly by scene designers. He used to perform Shaw, Ibsen, Miller, Camus, Brecht and Polish Mrozek, Kruczkowski and Broszkiewicz. After Krzeminski's leave, the new director Zygmunt Hubner was continuing the artistic theatre's development. He plays Wyspianski (by Andrzej Wajda), Witkacy, Krasinski, Slowacki, Rozewicz and Mrozek. In 1969 the censure stopped the premiere of 'Paternoster' of Kajzar and Hubner resigned after that.

After few next years the theatre still performed many arts. Indeed it was a place of unusual, well-integrated and understanding each other troop of artists, among who there were such stars as Wojciech Pszoniak, Anna Polony, Anna Seniuk, Jan Nowicki, Franciszek Pieczka, Jerzy Trela, Anna Dymna, Jerzy Radziwillowicz and Jerzy Stuhr.

From 1992, there are meetings organized in the theatre - meetings with great world culture artists with Peter Brooks, Czeslaw Milosz, Robert Wolson and many others. Two years later it was engaged to the European elite - the European Theatres Union.

Contemporary Theatre in Wroclaw
General and Artistic Director: Krystyna Meissner
12 Rzeznicza Street, 50-132 Wroclaw
www.wteatrw.pl

A theatre created in 1946 as a theatre of Doll and an Actor, then as Theatre of Young Spectator, then from 1957 as Theatre of Variety and finally after 1967 as Modern Theatre. First prepared for a mission of educating young spectators, rapidly changed its role to 'adult' performances scene under the direction of Elzbieta and Zenon Kalinowicz. Many great Polish artists like Tadeusz Rozewicz, Zygmunt Kajzar and Jerzy Jarocki were bound with the scene at Rzeznicza Street.

In 1957 a great performance had place in Contemporary Theatre: a one-night spectacle of 'Antygona' of Sofokles and 'Ifigenia' of Andre Obey, which remained as a symbol of new scene's birth. Next years were the time of 'Uncle Wania' of Czechow, Durrenmatt, Sartre and Polish Kruczkowski, Slowacki and Karpowicz. These were also great roles but had unfortunately failed because of the lack of artistic skills of theatre troop. What's more, the theatre had been still a traveling one and was to play outside of Wroclaw.
After Witkowski's return in 1966, the theatre began its new life. Many young actors like Edward Lubaszenko or Boguslaw Kierc were developing their skills many, like Maja Komorowska, came here as a new blood.

Next years were the time of great fame of Modern Theatre, great plays performed on it's stage, great artists and ambitious directors who made it to be one of the most important theatre in Poland - since 1999 it's Krystyna Meissner.

The theatre is also an organizer of an International Theatre Festival Dialog - Wroclaw, whose first edition took place in 2001.

Polish Theatre in Poznan
General and Artistic Director: Pawel Szkotak
8/10 December 27th Street, 61-737 Poznan
www.teatr-polski.pl

The Polish Theatre in Poznan was set up in 1875 in a building that was specially built for the scene at December 27 Street. The whole project author was Stanislaw Hebanowski, and the full theatre's name was the Polish Theatre in Potocki's garden in Poznan, which was also a memento for Boleslaw Potocki - one of the presenters of the theatre. He gave his garden to a company, which has been building the playhouse. The garden was sold and the money given to the site's purchase. Since 1925 the name was shortened to the Polish Theatre in Poznan.

The scene was initiated and was being created by the city's inhabitants so they put a sing of the front wall of a building, which was saying 'The nation for itself'. Most of the inhabitants of Wielkopolska region considered the theatre as a National Scene, a refuge of Polish culture and tradition, a sign of resistance to the Prussian authorities' policy.

At the beginning the theatre's artistic pattern was being created for people from the intelligence and gentry class but soon it changed to a program for the middle class, which was in fact the largest group of the public. Poznan's scene gained then a folk character and kept it for over thirty years.

The period between wars was a time of contemporary Polish dramas. There were performed 'Cities' of Stanislaw Przybyszewski, 'Garden of Love' of Tadeusz Rittner and many others.

The theatre's building hadn't been dilapidated during the World War II and it could be reborn right after it finished, in 1945 under the direction of Szczurkiewicz and Horzycy. It was one of the greatest theatres at the Polish scene, so called the only place where the Art began with capital 'A' existed.

Generally speaking, the history of Polish Theatre characterizes with the rotations of the artistic directors, which made it a middle-class one due to the fact that nobody had worked out a characteristic visage of the theatre.

However the theatre had it's own interesting directors like Marek Okopinski and the artists, amongst who there were stars like Henryk Machalica, Janusz Rewinski, Aleksandra Koncewicz and many others.

For the last 25 years the scene at December 27 stayed far behind the popularity of the New Theatre in Poznan. Until the experiment of Waldemar Lysakowski, who brought many non-compromise, brutal young European author's dramas to the theatre like 'King Kong's daughters' of Theresia Walser, 'Blood' of Sergio Belbel or '4.48 Psychosis' of Sarah Kane.

There is now also a Dramaturgy Centre in the theatre, which promotes contemporary pieces of Polish and foreign authors and publishes books from the 'Contemporary dramaturgy' series.