Serial Dyrektorzy. Dzieje Prawnego Unormowania Statusu Dyrektora
Dyrektorzy TV Series. The History of the Legal Status of a Manager

Summary/Abstract: In journalistic publications about cultural policy, there is a prevailing conviction that the system change of 1989 put an end to the prosperity and carefreeness of Polish theaters and made managers of these institutions face many new problems, unknown in the days of communism. In this paper, based on the study of community efforts to strengthen the position of theater managers in relations with authorities, I argue that this view is overly simplistic and idealizes the situation of culture in the communist Poland. The prolonged and complex efforts to determine the rules of theater manager’s work – which took more than fifty years (1958–2011) – are like a television “soap opera.” Hence the paper’s title (loosely) alluding to the Polish TV show Dyrektorzy, popular in 1970s, which portrays managers of the socialist industry, although the paper does not contain as many dramatic turns of events. The analysis of the sources shows the unchanging ills of the Polish theatre life, which moved from socialism to capitalism, from dictatorship to democracy. Theatre managers are still forced to negotiate with authorities.

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