Twórca skrojony na miarę… publiczności czy artystyczności?
The Artist—Tailored for… the Audience or Art?

Author(s): Bartłomiej Juszczak
Subject(s): Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: A contemporary theatre maker is often torn between the demands of the audience and his or her own artistic motives. The relationship between these two factors is being formed throughout the entire artistic process from the moment of creation to the performance itself. This article shows the importance of the role of the audience in the contemporary theatre by discussing examples from the lives of famous Polish theatre-makers—Helmut Kajzar, Tadeusz Kantor—and from the Polish public theatre life, such as the affair in the National Old Theatre in Cracow. Are outstanding theatre productions created only when the aforementioned factors intertwine? Can we afford to create a performance that does not take the viewer into account? Rapid changes in aesthetics and the transformation of the contemporary theatre are often opposed by the general public. Moreover, theatre makers must also come to terms with the growing practice of global productions, in which the locality is pushed into the background. Responsibility for the creation of meaning in the play has shifted from the director to the viewer; thus, the viewer is the most decisive and the third most important link in the show. Without the viewer there would be no performance.

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