An actor, director and stage designer, born in 1968.
Paweł Wodziński was born in 1968. In 1989, he graduated from the Acting and Directing Departments at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Warsaw in 1993. From 1989 to 1993, he was an actor, assistant director and director at the Teatr Dramatyczny (Dramatic Theatre) in Warsaw, where he directed Georg Büchner's Woyzeck (1992), Maxim Gorky's Datchiki (Polish trans., Letnicy; English trans., Summer Folk) (1993). He was a director and stage designer at Teatr Polski in Warsaw. Roman Pawłowski made the following comment about William Butler Yeats's one act-play, The Death of Cuchulain (Polish trans., Upadek Cuchulaina (1995): "The show is an attempt to revitalise Yeats's play by using later experiences from European theatre. Director Paweł Wodziński has rejected the musical character of one-act plays that is connected with the tradition of nô theatre, has opted not to use masks, gongs, dance and songs that serve as commentary on the action. He chose to look at Yeats's theatre through the eyes of another Irishman, Beckett, and found the theme of man's solitude in the face of time and death. He did not lighten the dark world of Celtic myths in this way, but he was able to achieve an interesting visual effect, which is the play's biggest success. Wodziński is definitely a better stage designer than a director." ("Smierć za dwanaście pensów", "Gazeta Wyborcza", 24 April 1995)
He also directed Paul Claudel's play "L'Échange" (English trans., The Exchange; Polish trans., Zamiana) (1997) for the Osterwa Theatre in Lublin, and Juliusz Słowacki's Horsztyński for the Mickiewicz Theatre in Częstochowa (1995). In the latter, he showed his "love for the classics and the need for purity of the genre, as befits a director of the school of Maciej Prus." (Jacek Sieradzki, "Na scenie", "Polityka", no. 5/1995)
In 1998, Pawel Wodzinski, together with Paweł Łysak and a group of young actors, directors and musicians, founded the Theatrical Society (Towarzystwo Teatralne), which produced Polish premieres of contemporary plays at Warsaw's Teatr Rozmaitosci and in the former Norblin Factory in Żelazna Street, also in Warsaw. "The main aim of the Theatrical Society", its founders wrote in the programme notes of their first production, the controversial play Shopping and Fucking, "is to create a theatre which describes the reality which we live in, which presents the most important themes of the modern world, a theatre that would also have a social role, becoming a theatre in the public service. The theatre's work is focused on the latest dramaturgy that in some simple way expresses the problems of the world today." The functions within the Theatrical Society, despite the existence of titles, are not delegated specifically. They take turns translating plays (Mark Ravenhill's Shopping and Fucking and Sarah Kane's Blasted (Polish trans., Zbombardowani), designing sets and directing.
The play Shopping and Fucking was accompanied by an aura of scandal and a heated debate on the role and the limits of the group's patronage. Rafał Węgrzyniak wrote: "It is difficult to deny politicians the right to comment on what artists are doing. One can also understand that many people are disgusted by Ravenhill's play. It is easy to see, however, that Warsaw city council members, in their attempts to limit the freedom of choice for theatres in their choice of repertoire are actually taking on the role of censor. (...) The denial of public funds for such a production will most likely not stop the criticism, because the people who buy tickets to Shopping and Fucking are also taxpayers. Since the public is prepared to watch Ravenhill's play, then apparently it sees something of its own experience or anxieties and fears in it. It is hard to pretend that homosexuals, drug dealers and phone sex do not exist, and that some circles use extremely vulgar language." ("Nowy brutalizm i stare struktury", "Nowe Państwo", no. 29/1999)
"Until recently, no one in Poland has shown any interest in the texts of young, controversial playwrights-they were not translated and no one wanted to publish them. It was only the Theatrical Society, led by Paweł Łysak and Paweł Wodziński, that put on the play Shopping and Fucking. Those responsible were attacked, and their production was called the scandal of the season. Meanwhile, they are already preparing their next productions (...). Those shows will probably provoke a new phase of discussion and reflection on what the task of theatre is. Of course, the quality of new plays always varies - some survive the test of time, and others do not. Unsuccessful stagings provide ammunition for the opponents of new dramaturgy; good stagings, ones that move the audience, confirm that theatre has a mission to fulfil, that it can have an effect and address the most sensitive social issues." (Jacek Papis, "Albertynka obdarta ze skóry", "Nowe Panstwo", no. 40/1999). For now, the new dramaturgy coming to us from the West has primarily provoked reactions from the representatives of the artistic establishment here, who are disgusted by the sight of bare bums in the theatre. We still must wait for it to affect society, which is also fascinated with consumption", wrote Roman Pawlowski. ("Cool teatr", "Gazeta Wyborcza", 19 April 1999).
In February 2000, Pawel Wodzinski became the managing and artistic director of Teatr Polski in Poznan, and Pawel Lysak became deputy director. This is what he said about his artistic plans in October 2000: "I would like this to be an ambitious theatre - the kind that won't be afraid to take risks and is able to take up serious issues with its audience (...). I believe that new dramaturgy will be of interest to Polish audiences who are of the same generation as the playwrights (...). But this does not mean that older people will not find anything of interest here. On the large stage (...), we will try above all to reinterpret the Polish classics. I would like this to always be guided by the subject matter. If a play is produced, it is because we want to tell the audience something important through it." ("Nie boję się ryzyka", "Glos Wielkopolski", no. 250/2000)
At Poznań's Teatr Polski, during his first season as director, Pawel Wodzinski did set design for Ingmar Villquist's Noc Helvera / Helver's Night (2000) and Entartete Kunst (2001), and Juliusz Słowacki's Książę niezłomny (2001). He started the Centre for Contemporary Dramaturgy, workshops for young playwrights and readings from new plays, principally by German authors. Polish premieres of Theresia Walser's King Kong's Töchter (English trans., King Kong's Daughters; Polish trans., Córki King Konga) (2000), Lars Norén's Personkrets 3:1 (English trans., The Human Circle 3:1; Polish trans., Krag personalny 3:1) (2001) and Ingmar Villquist's Entartete Kunst (2001).