We, the New Theatre

Abstract

Maciej Nowak’s article from 2004 summarizes the decade in progress at the time, as a time of great changes and challenges for Poles and Poland, where theatre somehow didn’t feel obliged to speak out on moral issues. The theatre had entirely lost its moral and social authority, built up over two centuries. At the same time, he proclaims the onset of a new theatre that does not consent to this, retaining a profound belief in itself as a medium that can be used to fix society and hold up its own image as an example. This new theatre is an agora. It is not afraid to confront the classics, but also has a great appetite for new stories, those which are close to its audience and actors. It searches for authors, for world-premiere texts and pretexts. Even at the risk of them being imperfect. In the new theatre, the actor becomes a co-creator of the play, equally responsible for its shape as the director, set designer and composer.