TEATR POLONIA

October 29, 2005 - opening of the Polonia Theater

Polonia Theater was created in the former Polonia Cinema. It was the first cinema opened in postwar Warsaw. There were movies like "Treasure" and "Forbidden Songs". In the early years of the 21st century the cinema building was unused and practically fell into ruin. In the autumn of 2004, the MAX-FILM company set up a cinema hall (the halls and the entrance are still owned by the City of Warsaw) for sale in the form of a tender. On January 21, 2005, Krystyna Janda and Edward Klosinski bought a room for the former cinema, and in November 2005 they donated it notary in the use of the Foundation. They also hired other space: the lobby and entrance, without which the room could not function and began repair.

In October 2005, the Little Theater of Polish Theater - "Violet Stockings" began to function. The name has been borrowed since the nineteenth-century feminist movement in France. The scene was named as a consequence of the artistic assumptions of the new Theater: it was supposed to deal mainly with women and related topics, to deal with women's and women's texts.

On 29.10.2005 the first premiere of Polonia Theater - "Stefania Ćwiek in the claws of life" by Dubrawka Ugrešić took place, and the second one - "Ear of the throat, knife" - a monodrama performed by Krystyna Janda according to the book Vedrana. Rudan under the same title. At that time, the big stage of the theater was undergoing renovation.

On December 3, 2006 the premiere of "Three Sisters" by A. Chekhov was inaugurated. The second premiere was Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days" (January 12, 2007). The first years of the Polonia Theater's success are both artistic and casual. By the end of 2007, the theater gave 20 premieres, almost half of them still in the repertoire.

In 2007, the idea of ​​playing in the summer, in the holiday months, for people, on the street, for free. And so, on June 21, 2007, the first performance on Constitution Square was held: Krzysztof Bizio's "Lament on Constitution Square" and it was played 37 times. In the following years, new productions were launched for this street theater, urban theater and until today every year there are performances in the outdoors. Recently and at the Constitution Square, and on Grójecka Street 65 in front of the Och-Teatr. The number of shows depends on the amount of money the Foundation will earn for this purpose, but it is from 40 to 70 performances, gathering about 10-15 thousand spectators each year.

On January 5, 2008, Edward Kłosiński died, who has built and furnished the theater to the end, participated in artistic works, among other things, lighting for many shows and co-managed the Foundation. After His death, Krystyna Janda and Maria Seweryn sit on the Foundation's board. Partially the Council of the Foundation has also changed.

The success, the growing repertoire and the growing number of spectators, as well as the small number of seats in the audience (Teatr Polonia with 266 seats) made the Foundation in 2009 lease the building of the former Ochota cinema MAX-FILM and began repairing the neglected cinema.

On January 16, 2010, the Och-Theater opened with 447 seats in the audience. The scene began "life" premiere of "Wassy Żeleznowej" Gorki. From then on the theater began to play regularly, taking over part of the repertoire from the Polonia Theater and creating their own, turning this scene also to the music scene.

In the spring of 2011, the financial condition of the Foundation was weakened due to both organizational problems and external causes. The Foundation's management ordered the reorganization of both theaters - from the repertoire concept to formal and organizational change. After 18 months of the crisis, the Foundation was back on its feet. All scenes were profiled. Teatr Polonia with stage Violet Stockings is making more difficult topics at this time, Och-Teatr has been designed to play a lighter repertoire, although these scene profiles are not rigid.

In the summer of 2013 a renovation of the Och-Teat building was conducted, and 21.09. Premiere of "First Lady" performance dir. Grzegorz Warchula was inaugurated a new stage, Och-Cafe Theater, housed in cafes and extensive theaters, with plans to play a different from the rest of the repertoire - a repertoire that addresses current social issues. The new scene also involves other, more interactive relationships with viewers.

Throughout the years the Foundation has been in contact with institutions supporting children, the sick, the orphans and the elderly, both of which invite them regularly to the audience. Since September 2012, in collaboration with the Atelier Foundation, children's art classes have taken place during the performances, at a time when the parents watch the show. In both theaters there are many theater events, many concerts and meetings. In 2015, the Foundation played 806 shows at both theaters, and saw them around 200,000 spectators. The impresario of the Foundation works well, in 2015 the audience in Poland had the opportunity to see 135 performances from both theaters in their cities. The total revenues of the Foundation are approximately PLN 20,200,000 per year, both theaters have about 530,000. monthly fixed costs (including very expensive rental of the Och-Teatr) and about 580 thousand. artistic costs. In order to maintain and produce new productions, the Foundation must earn from tickets, selling spectacles for trips and otherwise around 1.4 million a month, which is not easy, but it is a miracle. The contribution of the State and other companies in the Foundation's activities is only about 9% of revenues.

CALENDAR available on the Polonia Theater website: http://teatrpolonia.pl/pl/content/pl/teatr/historia