Teatr Narodowy Jerzego Grzegorzewskiego
The Narodowy Theatre under Jerzy Grzegorzewski

Summary/Abstract: Jerzy Grzegorzewski took over the management of the Narodowy Theatre in Warsaw on 1 January 1997, when the building was re-built after the 1985 fire. He took this post as an outstanding artistic personality that had been exciting the imagination of theatre audiences with his novel staging formulas that conveyed the message of cultural breakdown, disintegration of the individual and the crisis of values. Working out a theatrical language that would adequately express these ideas meant that certain conventions had to be negated and many widely accepted models cast away, which caused numerous interpretational difficulties and misunderstandings, and the audiences sometimes rejected his productions for this reason. Before Grzegorzewski became head of the Narodowy Theatre, the artistic community had debated about what the future of the special stage that was being rebuilt should be. Presenting his programme, Grzegorzewski harked back to Stanisław Wyspiański. He wanted a theatre whose essential features would be art, metaphysics and tradition. The premiere of Noc listopadowa (‘The November Night’) in 1997 stirred a discussion in which Grzegorzewski’s supporters voiced their approval for the revision of stereotypical notions about national myths while his critics considered it to be a treasonous attack on the national culture. The production additionally sparked a more general debate concerning the role of classical theatre repertory. Grzegorzewski was the artistic manager of the Narodowy Theatre for six seasons, from 1 January 1997 until the end of the 2002/2003 Season. He resigned before his term of office ended. In this period, the theatre gave 29 premieres on two stages: the big Bogusławski Stage, and the small one of the Sala przy Wierzbowej. Grzegorzewski himself prepared 11 productions at the time, i.e. from one to three premieres per season. In creating a unique stage idiom, sometimes based on traditional conventions and sometimes going against them, Grzegorzewski worked within a sphere of contradictions between a need for developing his own language and a need to communicate with his audience. He attacked emotions and the intellect, demonstrated possibilities of looking at the reality from various points of view, and strived to compel his audiences to get a different perspective on some generally accepted beliefs. He analysed the common horizon of awareness stressing what was open and liberating in the Polish culture and urging to open one’s eyes to modernity. During his term at the Narodowy Theatre, the postulates that theatre be more in touch with the rapidly changing reality were being formulated with increasing force and clarity. There appeared directors and companies that satisfied these expectations. In comparison with their accomplishments, the wise, aesthetically refined theatre by Grzegorzewski seemed cool and aloof, while Grzegorzewski himself came to be viewed as a classic rather than as an avant-gardist. The multitude of artistic and ideological issues revealed through Grzegorzewski’s creative work at the Narodowy usually overshadowed the accomplishments of his organisational talents.

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