Jacek Głomb, photo Michał Tuliński / Forum
On the 7th of July a week-long workshop began for young theatre artists from Poland and Russia. The Polish-Russian Theatre School project aims to explore the complex bond that unites the two nations through theatre.
The initiative will take place in Legnica, in southwest Poland. Over 250 theatre actors and directors under 30 have applied to participate in the series of workshops. The final selection comprises 12 Poles and 10 Russians, all of whom will participate in a staged presentation at the end of the week. The latter will be directed by Jacek Głomb, director of the Helena Modrzejewska Theatre in Legnica, as well as one of the creators and organizers of the Polish-Russian Theatre School project.
The Polish-Russian cooperation will be led by Sergey Efremov of the Moscow Comedy Theatre, who believes that the project will not only bridge a gap in communication between the two nations, but also between new and older generations of actors. As the project's website explains:
Poles and Russians have a long way to go in the long and difficult process of reaching a mutual understanding. The narrators of this process can and should be artists from both sides of the border, especially the young generation of Polish and Russian theatre artists and filmmakers. Art should be the main medium - ambitious, innovative art that is not afraid to face difficult issues – to present the interlocking fates of two nations in a way that may be far removed from the academic model, but that is able to reach a wider audience.
The city of Legnica is an appropriate choice for a Polish-Russian collaboration for historical reasons. Poles often refer to Legnica as Mała Moskwa, or Little Moscow, since from 1945 to 1990 it was used as a Soviet military headquarter, strategically located between the Czech and German borders.
The participants will first go to Kraków to meet the director Andrzej Wajda and his wife, the renowned stage designer Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda. The couple has given honorary patronage to the programme, alongside the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Polish-American Freedom Foundation.
The organizers of the Polish-Russian Theatre School are the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe in Wrocław, the Helena Modrzejewska Theatre in Legnica and the Moscow Comedy Theatre. The workshops take place from the 7th to the 15th of July.
Sources: PAP, press materials, own materials. Edited by LB, 08/07/2013