Scena Polska.UK: The Popular London Theatre Group Keeping It Polish
London-based Scena Polska.UK is an important artistic and social phenomenon for Poles. The theatre offers a repertoire including classic and contemporary Polish plays, involving a team of professional actors. The premieres are targeted at emigrants of both the older and the younger generations.
The dark spectre of Brexit is haunting Londoners. The majority of the capital’s inhabitants voted Remain. A multinational crowd of thousands of people filled the streets leading to the Parliament to protest against the decision to leave the EU. Variety, multiculturalism and multilingualism form the lively tissue of the city, which reflects the abundance of the larger world. More often than ever, theatre here is experiencing troubles keeping up with the rapidly changing reality.
It captures scraps of it, attempting to interpret fragments instead of explaining the complex processes that form it. Exposed to various sources of pressure, theatre becomes one of the communication tools that serves only certain trends or ideas. Altering its message to fit the requirements for financial support, it loses the liberty of artistic expression. Multiculturalism is valuable and enriching, as it creates meanings and broadens horizons, but it cannot replace vernacular cultures – without which, after all, it couldn’t exist. Every culture is defined by its language.
To receive grant-aid from public funds on this multicultural island, theatres must stage performances in English. To be able to use the funding, they need to have an appropriate administrative infrastructure. That’s why groups of artists from other cultures, such as Indian Tara-Arts or South-Asian Yellow Earth, have got solid administration, but no permanent artistic teams. Actors and directors are ‘for hire’. These theatres receive British funds and contribute to homogenisation of Eastern cultures in the UK.
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‘Gęś Nadziewana’ (A Stuffed Goose), pictured: Zbigniew Sieciechowicz, Magda Włodarczyk & Helena Kaut-Howson, photo: Ryszard Szydło
When it comes to Scena Polska.UK, however, it’s the exact opposite. It is currently the only team of professional artists in the UK that regularly stages high-quality performances in the Polish language. There’s no administrative or technical infrastructure, but there’s a permanent troupe of actors who want to perform in their native language. Their days are filled with work or study, and it’s only in the evenings that they can organise rehearsals, which often last long hours. The scripts are written at night.
The production of a full-scale performance, including scenography and music, demands a huge effort not only from the actors and the director, but also from the staff who help behind the scenes and who also do their other jobs during the day. After a few months of rehearsals, the group holds a premiere, and then usually performs three to six shows. The income from tickets rarely covers the costs of production. Non-steady grant-aid from Polish public funds sometimes allows for staging a performance outside London, but the pay remains nominal. It’s the enthusiastic reactions of the audience that are the true gratification.
The viewers need theatre that reinforces their sense of identity, allows them to immerse themselves in Polish literature, refers to tradition and helps them strengthen their self-worth in as inhabitants of a foreign country. The classic Polish plays and poetry adapted for the stage are interpreted from an emigrant perspective. Performances with an elaborate musical frame and scenography, as well as a well-developed, original style are enthusiastically received by the audience.
The Polish community’s press and media emphasise the role of Scena Polska.UK in reinforcing a sense of national identity and building bridges between generations. They also point to the professionalism of the artists, as well as their ability to speak to viewers of different ages, professions and interests.
The beginnings of Scena Polska.UK were modest. In 2004, the actress and director Helena Kaut-Howson – who, despite a long, successful career in British theatres, reacted to the huge influx of Poles to the UK by participating in emigrant theatre as well – established Scena Poetycka (Poetic Stage). Its core consisted of actors from London’s Teatr Nowy (New Theatre), directed by Urszula Święcicka from 1983 to 1991.
Amongst the artists, there were graduates of the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków: Wojtek Piekarski, Konrad Łatacha, Dorota Zięciowska (currently a guest performer, commuting from Poland), as well as Joanna Kańska, Janusz Guttner, Renata Chmielewska, Teresa Greliak and Zofia Walkiewicz. Helena Kaut-Howson became the artistic supervisor of the group, while musical supervision was the responsibility of Maria Drue – a legendary emigrant pianist who once collaborated with Marian Hemar, Feliks ‘Ref-Ren’ Konarski and pre-war stars such as Włada Majewska, Zofia Terné or Renara Bogdańska (Irena Anders).
Wojtek Piekarski became the team leader, and financial-administrative responsibilities belonged to Magda Włodarczyk – an actress and singer and graduate of National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw who, having gained new qualifications in London, opened an accounting firm.
The group was joined by actors newly arrived from Poland, including Damian Dudkiewicz, Paweł Zdun, Jarek Ciepichał, Marlena Psiuk, Katarzyna Paradecka and Anna Rusiecka. In recent years it’s been joined by Łukasz Zapłotny, Beata Majka and Klaudia and Jarek Zawadko. After Maria Drue’s withdrawal from active artistic life, the role of the musical supervisor was taken over by the pianist, composer and orchestrator Daniel Łuszczki.
The creators of Scena Poetycka decided to assess the needs of the Polish public in London. Initially, the performances took place in the cosy Jazz Café in the Polish Social and Cultural Association, with minimal scenography. With texts in hand (which allowed them to save time and costs of preparation), they managed to perfectly extract the mood, meaning and beauty of poetic language. They presented a range of well-known and well-liked poetry, from Kochanowski to Miłosz. Love-themed and lighter texts were included too, as well as poetry reflecting the difficult experiences of two generations of emigrants – war refugees and emigrants from the communist regime.
After some time, the artists’ ambitions and the audience’s positive reactions led to a decision to expand the range of artistic means by including stage action, music, choreography and scenography. Original scripts became the group’s trademark, combining elements of cabaret, stage song and poetry, performed in the convention of Rhapsodic Theatre. The dramatic structure emerging out of the poems created suspense, scenes combined to form sequences, the actors went in and out of character, which contributed to the dramatic atmosphere on the stage. Each performance was accompanied by a peculiar mood achieved through words, sound and light.
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‘Pan Tadeusz’, Wojciech Piekarski, photo: Ryszard Szydło
The poetical-musical performances presented the figures of poets and their fates, recalling their works and scenes from their lives. In her original scripts, Helena Kaut-Howson used poetry, letters, diaries, films and photographs. She also encouraged the members of the group to create their own pieces. The role of sung poetry, which particularly attracted young people, started to increase. In a programme titled Agnieszka, the actress Zofia Walkiewicz used Agnieszka Osiecka’s correspondence with her friends from London on top of her songs.
A later, more elaborate version of the performance – titled A Wariatka Jeszcze Tańczy! (And the Crazy Woman’s Still Dancing!), performed on Polish Social and Cultural Association’s big stage – showed a much more in-depth picture of the artist’s personality. This time, the script was also based on Osiecka’s prose writings. The performance was hugely successful, so after a few years they returned to the poet’s works for the third time, creating one of Scena Poetycka’s biggest hits – a full-scale music drama titled Chociaż Raz Warto Umrzeć z Miłości (It’s Worth Dying of Love at Least Once), enriched not only with new characters but also with new threads.
Scena Poetcyka’s programme included poetical-musical performances devoted to the works of Julian Tuwim, Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Stanisław Baliński, Edward Stachura, Władysław Broniewski, Jonasz Kofta, Wisława Szymborska and Kazimierz Wierzyński. The scripts were constructed around the figures present in the works or life of a given poet, while programmes centred around the figures of artists of eminent individuals combined stage action with documentary films or archival material. A performance devoted to Zbigniew Herbert was composed similarly, based on poetry written by him outside the country and on letters he sent to his friends as an emigrant. Fragments of a film about the poet’s visit to Lviv were also incorporated.
Scena Poetycka was surrounded by a growing circle of enthusiasts and volunteers, who, within the framework of Stage Friends’ Club, supported the group emotionally and financially. The audience began to demand full performances. A smaller programme based on the works of Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, titled Gąska na Zakąskę (A Goose for Starters), enjoyed great popularity and was expanded for the Polish Social and Cultural Association’s stage, with the title changed to Gęś Nadziewana (A Stuffed Goose). Years later, the group returned to that theme and performed a new version of the show – Gęś z Przystawkami (A Goose with Appetisers). Dialogues referring to the situation of Poles in contemporary London were added to Gałczyński’s works.
‘Pan Tadeusz’ with six actors
Theatre was a space where young audiences searched for ways to make the process of assimilation easier. They had a need for a dialogue around the weight of their native culture. They wanted to understand what is stable and thus consistently defines our identity, versus what is dynamic, creating a new, individual quality for emigrants.
That’s why in 2014, in the Polish Social and Cultural Association’s Jazz Café, a cycle of meetings called ‘Theatre at the Coffee Table’ was inaugurated, during which contemporary Polish plays were presented in a modest form. Adaptations of Dorota Masłowska’s No Matter How Hard We Tried, Julia Holewińska’s Blood (Originally: Krzywicka) and Magda Fertacz’s Trash Story evoked discussions that confirmed the need for interactive theatre, responding to the emigrant viewers’ expectations. Direct and close contact with the audience was a source of inspiration for the actors, who not only created scripts, but also undertook directorial challenges.
Wojciech Piekarski, an actor with a temperament for Romantic drama, took upon himself the risky challenge of adapting Pan Tadeusz – with only six actors at his disposal. Using stage props that were at hand merely to mark the place of action, the actors managed to extract not only the beauty of Mickiewicz’s words, but also to discover its timelessness. The combination of thought, stage movement, acting skills, well-selected music and lighting turned the performance into a breakthrough. Scena Poetycka was becoming more and more of a real theatre.
After the premiere of Revenge, Teresa Bazarnik wrote in Nowy Czas (A New Time) (October 2016):
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One could notice the actors bursting with stage temperament and excellent skills. […] Scena Poetycka was turning into a theatre organically, performance after performance. The viewers could observe this evolution themselves, as the uttered words combined themselves into a well-thought-out script and, along with movement, created dramatic suspense. Elements of scenography started to appear, and everyday clothes started to resemble costumes when extra elements were added to them, chosen humorously or with sentiment.
Staging Revenge as a satire, the artists referred to the contemporary times by painting a character of a Pole in London. It was a colourful procession of expressive personalities, excellently performed by the energetic artistic team, with rich scenography. The audience reacted with enthusiasm and called for repeating the performance. A small grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allowed for the show to be presented for large Polish communities in several theatres outside London.
Having been invited to do so by Helena Kaut-Howson, Agata Puszcz prepared Mrożek’s Tango. The director was surprised both by Scena Polska.UK’s lack of infrastructure and by the actors’ enthusiasm. After a few months of rehearsals, Tango was performed just four times. Although the audience responded with standing ovations, there were no facilities and no funds to present more performances. The validity of the topic was surprising. The youth understood the writer’s language, but they discussed and exchanged comments in English, as that was easier for them.
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‘Revenge’, photo: Ryszard Szydło
A sympathetic reaction was evoked by a multimedia performance titled Źródło (Source), prepared by Helena Kaut-Howson for the 100th anniversary of Polish independence. It evoked strong emotions and even brough the audience to tears. Beata Howe – the headmistress of President Ryszard Kaczorowski School in London and the director of the Institute of Polish Didactics at the Polish University Abroad – wrote on Scena Polska.UK’s Facebook page:
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An excellent depiction of the battles for independence, suffering and challenges of many generations of Poles – from the November Uprising up until the present. A hugely moving and painful story about those who were degraded, dispatched and murdered in death camps and ghettos, of those on inhumane lands and all those who survived the ordeal of World War II; showing the incredibly important, yet constantly overlooked history of Poles in England, devoid of their homeland, and their devotion to the cause of Polish independence. A source of suffering and constant struggle for survival, building anew without giving up – it’s not just a history lesson on the screen, but also a tribute to all Poles, regardless of their roots, as well as a lesson for future generations.
In 2015, Scena Poetycka turned into Scena Polska.UK on the rights of charity. This status, however, didn’t make it easier to obtain funds. Polish companies in London simply aren’t interested in funding theatre. The offer of guest performances by popular actors from Poland is wide, yet the need to engage with Polish contemporary theatre or with Polish classics isn’t necessarily well-understood by potential sponsors.
Meanwhile, for young people, especially those born in the UK, theatre offers one-of-a-kind contact with living Polish language and literature. Its audience usually doesn’t take advantage of what domestic theatre groups offer. The parents of the young generation would probably rather go see a popular Polish cabaret, a comedy or a performance by a soap opera ‘star’. For financial reasons, no theatre will come from Poland to London to perform Revenge, Pan Tadeusz or Tango. The London-based Scena Polska.UK is such a phenomenon exactly because it presents a Polish repertoire, providing artistic-level shows, prepared and executed by a team of professional actors who work for a very low salary, driven by passion and the desire to perform.
The perception of one’s identity in a new country, culture and multicultural society is largely dependent on one’s sense of self-worth, the knowledge of history and its processes, and the ability to adapt and to accept oneself, as well as the surrounding world. Polish language, literature and culture constitute an element of Great Britain’s multicultural society. Poles and Polish culture are present and visible on the British Isles. Scena Polska.UK constitutes an unprecedented social phenomenon due to both the team that comprises it and the audience who prove, time after time, that it needs this type of theatre.
Originally written in Polish by Ewa Urszula Stepan and published in Teatr (Theatre), Jan 2020, translated by AP, Feb 2021
You can visit Scena Polska.UK's website here and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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