Founded in 1976 in Lublin, this is a non-mainstream theatre originating from the student theatre tradition of the late 1960's and early 1970's. From the beginning, the group's artistic manager and director has been Janusz Opryński, a Polish studies graduate of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. Opryński is a co-founder of the "KONFRONTACJE" / "CONFRONTATIONS" theatre festival in Lublin which was first held in 1996.
Provisorium is a group which emerged from opposition to the political and social reality of the late 1970's and from the artistic experience of its predecessors. In the group's work, metaphorical performances involved a clear message about the most important things related to human beings and their condition. Provisorium always started from outstanding texts, including such authors as Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Jan Józef Szczepański, world classics of prose, and Witold Gombrowicz. The work of the latter is particularly important to Provisorium. Their first production W POŁOWIE DROGI / HALF-WAY was based on motifs from FERDYDURKE (1976). The group returned to this novel by Gombrowicz in one of their most interesting productions in 1998. For 2004, Opryński prepared a special edition of "KONFRONTACJE / CONFRONTATIONS dedicated to Witold Gombrowicz.
Provisorium's productions in the late 1970's and early 1980's included NASZA NIEDZIELA / OUR SUNDAY based on texts by Czesław Miłosz, Marek Hłasko, Witold Gombrowicz and Anatol Stern (1978), NIE NAM LECIEĆ NA WYSPY SZCZĘŚLIWE / NOT FOR US TO FLY TO THE HAPPY ISLES (second version 1982) based on Stanisław Brzozowski, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Osip Mandelstam (1979), PUSTA ESTRADA / AN EMPTY STAGE based on Dostoyevsky, Rainer Maria Rilke and Venedikt Erofeev (1981). These performances made Provisorium one of the most important political theatres of their time.
"The stance chosen by Provisorium, which they propose others take as well, leads to a deeper awareness and unawareness. It is the most effective defence against easy culture, and thus also against any manipulation, as it averts the danger of believing in lies," noted Grzegorz Kostrzewa-Zorbas ("Kultura", 27 September 1981).
Opryński himself had written three years earlier in his 22 TEZY DO PRZEMYŚLENIA / 22 POINTS TO CONSIDER:
"10. Wade through an essay by Camus. I recommend THE REBEL: AN ESSAY ON MAN IN REVOLT, but in its full version. ... 13. Remember that theatre is a place where it's hardest to tell lies. 14. Be aware that playing in a theatre, you are making a public confession, revealing your own sins and those of others."
In subsequent years Provisorium produced: WSPOMNIENIA Z DOMU UMARŁYCH / MEMORIES FROM THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD based on Gustaw Herling-Grudziński's INNY ŚWIAT / ANOTHER WORLD (1983-1988), the street performance PIEŚNI PRZEKLĘTE / CURSED SONGS (1984), DZIEDZICTWO / HERITAGE inspired by works such as Jan Józef Szczepański's KONIEC LEGENDY / THE END OF A LEGEND (1985), later followed by OGRODY / GARDENS (1990), the outdoor show WSCHÓD / THE EAST - together with Teatr Ósmego Dnia (1991), Z NIEBA, PRZEZ ŚWIAT, DO SAMYCH PIEKIEŁ / FROM HEAVEN THROUGH THE WORLD TO HELL (1992) which won the prestigious Fringe First award in Edinburgh, and WSPÓŁCZUCIE / COMPASSION (1993).
Since 1996 Provisorium has worked with Witold Mazurkiewicz's Kompania Teatr (Theatre Company), a group of graduates from the puppet department of Warsaw's theatre school. Together they have produced FERDYDURKE (1998), a show for which Provisorium won its second Fringe First at the Edinburgh festival of alternative theatre, followed by productions such as SCENY Z ŻYCIA MITTELEUROPY / SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF MITTELEUROPA based on Robert Musil's THE CONFUSIONS OF YOUNG TÖRLESS (2001).
Teatr Provisorium has taken part in many festivals in Poland and abroad, including the University Theatre Festival in L'Aquila, Italy (1980), the International Theatre Workshops in Scheersberg, Germany (1980), the International Theatre Festival in London (1986), the World Theatre Festival in Edinburgh (1986, 2001), and the Art Festival in Mainz (1991). The group has also been on numerous foreign tours, including to Italy, Belgium, England, Scotland, Germany, and also to the United States (2001) where their FERDYDURKE was a great success.
Monika Mokrzycka-Pokora
October 2003
Teatr Provisorium
ul. Narutowicza 32
20-007 Lublin
Region: lubelskie
Phone: (+48 81) 536 03 20, 536 03 18
Fax: (+48 81) 53 603 18
WWW: www.ck.lublin.pl