Osterwa po wojnie albo Pięknosłużca w Polsce Ludowej
Osterwa after the War or, the Servant of Beauty in People’s Poland

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses Juliusz Osterwa’s activity between 1944 and 1947. The author describes Osterwa’s social and artistic stance towards the new reality and his role in rebuilding Polish theatre after the war. It also addresses his complicated relations with the communist authorities; it is argued that they escape any clear-cut categorisation or evaluation. The article focuses mainly on Osterwa’s stage productions from this period: Stefan Żeromski’s Uciekła mi przepióreczka [My Quail Has Fled] (1945) in Kraków, Juliusz Słowacki's Fantazy in Łódź (1945), Słowacki’s Lilla Weneda (1946) and Kazimierz Korcelli’s Papuga [Parrot] (1946) in Warsaw, and finally Fantazy in Kraków (1946), Osterwa’s last stage performance. Based on the critical reception of these productions in the Polish press, the author reconstructs the picture of the hopes and tensions accompanying the post-war activity of the outstanding actor, director and educator in his final years. Osterwa’s plans that remained unrealised due to his terminal illness are also mentioned. (Transl. Z. Ziemann)

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