Taking the position of the manager of Teatr Śląski in Katowice in 1992
I was aware of the fact that it was the only theatre in Poland named after Stanisław
Wyspiański. The patron himself and his thinking about art, especially
an interdisciplinary nature characterizing him, imposed the project of an artistic
programme on this stage for 11 years. Wyspiański’s connections with Silesia
cover both an artist’s interest in an Old‑Piast
district, including fascination with
Henryk Pobożny, and his contribution to the shape of the intellectual formation
of Poles who, after 1918 dictated a socio‑political
nature to Katowice. Michał
Grażyński, a voivodship and Marian Sobański, a long‑standing
manager, saw
Stanisław Wyspiański as both the theatre patron, and a starting point for an
artistic level they dictated to the very institution. Giving the name to the theatre
in 1936 was connected with Józef Piłsudski’s death. For many Poles the marshal
was the embodiment of Konrad from Wyzwolenie, and his death determined
many spectacular events.
The theatre in Katowice offered Stanisław Wyspiański’s biggest masterpieces
in the 1930s. They only lacked Akropolis. The adaptation of this play, considered
by many the most difficult one written by an author of Wesele became a great
challenge for the Silesian stage at the end of the first century of its existence. The
decision was reinforced by the fact of Poland’s entry to the European Union and
intensification of talks on civilization roots of our country. A biblical area and
the world of Greek and Roman mythology, very much present as the two main
constituents of Akropolis, allowed the theatre to enter into an important social
dialogue. The task to by performed by producers and, mainly a director, was
how to stage the play. The basic conception was solved by means of building
the person of the Poet, mainly from the stage directions inspired by the author
himself when writing Akropolis, his struggles with disease and fascination with
Polishness. Next, the person of the Poet became the source of inspiration for
Whiting a play on Wyspiański. Chryje z Polską by Maciej Wojtyszko was based
on a little known fact from our history, namely one meeting between Wyspiański
and Piłsudski on 1 March 1905. Its leading theme was support for an idea
of treasure in favour of the Polish army to be. Stefan Żeromski was engaged in
getting into touch. Wyspiański considered the possibility of taking the position
of the manager in Teatr Miejski. Piłsudski wanted to use a February resolution in
Russia to start yet another uprising in Poland. The work by Maciej Wojtyszko, presenting a confrontation of both characters, shows possibilities of a dialogue
of art and politics, reveals painful wounds in the history of mentality of Poles.
The image of a character Stanisław Wyspiański becomes in both positions is
a food for thought