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The Ludowy Theatre (literally:People's Theatre,Polish:Teatr Ludowy) inKraków, located atOsiedle Teatralne housing development in districtNowa Huta, opened on 3 December 1955. At that time in thePolish People's Republic, the official policy ofsocialist realism in art and social life came to an end andde-Stalinization was taking place, heading for its culmination in the events ofPolish October. The Ludowy quickly became known as the city's primeavant-garde stage thanks to collaboration of eminent artists, including the theatre theoretician and painterJózef Szajna,[1]Tadeusz Kantor (both from theAcademy of Fine Arts),Lidia Zamkow,Krystyna Zachwatowicz, and others.[2]
Teatr Ludowy, designed by architects Edmund Dąbrowski and Janusz Ingarden, was built in 1954–1955, with the cubic volume of 14,000 m³ and seating for 420.[3] It was placed in the centre of a socialist housing urban project for social and ideological reasons, to spread high culture among theworking class population established during the past few years in the surroundingNowa Huta industrial district and as a possible vehicle for workers' indoctrination. However, thanks to the revolutionary vision of its first president, Krystyna Skuszanka, Teatr Ludowy became one of the most interesting theatres in the country, with Jerzy Krasowski as its first resident director and painter Jozef Szajna as its visionary set designer.[2] Together, they turned the young local venue into an innovative and politically engaging stage with serious intellectual and artistic ambitions. Szajna, a survivor ofNazi camps inAuschwitz andBuchenwald, was the theatre's artistic director in 1963-1966. In his popular productions ofShakespeare andGreek tragedies, he evoked his own camp experiences; it was called a theater of death byPeter Brook.[1]
The name Teatr Ludowy ('The People's Theatre') had a unique tradition in Kraków, in spite of its ostensiblystate socialist,leftist orpopulist connotations. In 1902 (during thePartitions of Poland), another Ludowy Theatre was opened in Kraków by the renowned actorStefan Jaracz, who performed there. It was situated at Krowoderska Street.[4]
During the decades ofcommunist rule, thePolish theatre employed the artistic techniques of political allusion andmetaphor, in order to overcomecensorship. Theatre was not created from the text alone, but from what often remained unspoken and only visually significant.[5] At the Ludowy, plays byAeschylus,Carlo Gozzi andCarlo Goldoni were staged. Krystyna Skuszanka prepared successful Shakespeare productions:Measure for Measure with stage design by Tadeusz Kantor (1956),The Tempest (1959), and theTwelfth Night (1961) with set design by Józef Szajna. She also stagedPolish Romantic drama, such asJuliusz Słowacki'sBalladyna (1956) andSen srebrny Salomei ('Silver Dream of Salome', 1959). In 1962, Skuszanka and Jerzy Krasowski prepared a production ofAdam Mickiewicz'sDziady with stage design by Szajna.
The realities of life undercommunism inspired broader philosophical and ideological questions. Notable plays of the time included productions by Krasowski, such as the adaptation ofJohn Steinbeck's novelOf Mice and Men (1956) withFranciszek Pieczka (as Lenny Small) andWitold Pyrkosz (as George Milton). There wasFranz Werfel'sJacobowsky and the Colonel staged in 1957 and Jerzy Broszkiewicz'sImiona władzy ('The Names of Power') directed by Skuszanka (1957), about the issues of freedom.Albert Camus'sThe State of Siege was staged in 1958. The novel byJuliusz Kaden-Bandrowski,Radość z odzyskanego śmietnika ('The Joy of the Repossessed Dumpsite'), premiered in 1960.[2]
As the political climate began to worsen, the theatre was faced with increasing criticism. The directors were accused of ignoring audiences of lower educational status. Skuszanka and Krasowski left the Ludowy in 1963, unable to carry on with their ambitious repertoire. Szajna, who remained, was often sharply criticized.[6] His productions includedNikolai Gogol'sThe Inspector General (1963), Tadeusz Hołuj'sPuste pole ('The Empty Field', 1965), Witold Wandurski'sŚmierć na gruszy ('Death on a Pear-tree', 1965), andFranz Kafka'sThe Castle with memorable roles by Irena Jun and Józef Wieczorek (1966). The audiences directed to attend performances through official channels, such as employee crews of state-run enterprises or public school students, stopped coming. Szajna left in 1966. In the 1970s, the theatre remained unable to find a formula that would satisfy both the authorities and the critics. Comedies were staged. Consecutive directors tried to revive the tradition of Polish national and folk theatre.[2] An artistic revival came with thefall of communism in central-eastern Europe. Indemocratic Poland the Ludowy was taken over by an actor, director, and politicianJerzy Fedorowicz (1989–2012).[7] Under his management, the theatre won considerable recognition and numerous awards. It was twice invited to theEdinburgh International Festival: in 1996 withMacbeth directed byJerzy Stuhr and in 1997 withAntigone directed by Włodzimierz Nurkowski. Jacek Strama led the Ludowy Theatre from 2012 to 2016, and Małgorzata Bogajewska is the current director.
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