Engagement and Autonomy of Theatre

Abstract

Can a play both be politically engaged and remain serious art (whatever these two phrases may mean)? Can it retain its 'artistic value' when entering the space of political discourse? Can political effectiveness and aesthetic subtlety be combined, or does creating art with a socio-political dimension automatically preclude the possibility of creating 'true art', asks Paweł Mościcki. 'Engaged theatre' is a term that caused much heated debate and fierce argument in Poland in recent years. The question of theatre’s political and social mission has clearly not only divided artists, but also demonstrated obvious dividing lines among critics, theatre scholars and above all audiences. Mościcki distinguishes in today’s debates three particular meanings of politics, and also three resultant models of the relationship between art and politics. He argues that neither an engaged nor engaging art can occur in a pure state, untainted by its opposite. These two concepts should thus perhaps be treated as certain ideal types, blended together in particular artistic endeavours, and perhaps even co-existing with forms of post-political art.