Powszechny Theatre’s spirit is inseparably linked with comedy. Our repertoire does not include adaptations of books from school reading lists or fairy tales. Once more in the upcoming season we will appeal to the sense of humor and individualism of the modern Pole, we will work on the development of the Polish Comedy Centre and think about the condition of contemporary comedy.

Although we are the only theatre which does not stop staging until the end of July, apart from the Wybrzeże Theatre, we begin the season as soon as on the 16th of September, and in October we begin performing on the second large stage. Because of the huge interest in our plays, while waiting for the building and the opening of the small stage, the Theatre will present its plays simultaniously on two stages: in Powszechny Theatre and in V6 Theatre on 74/76 Żeromskiego Street.

In October our Theatre will present the last preview of the previous season prepared for the Polish Comedy Centre – Przemysław Jurek’s ‘Kochanowo and Nearby’ directed by Aldona Figura. The play will be presented during the Preview Festival in Bydgoszcz, and in November it will be shown during Genius Loci Festival in Cracow. ‘Kochanowo and Nearby’ received the second prize of the 2nd edition of ‘Komediopisanie’ competition.

On the 23rd of October we will invite you to the first preview of the season: Juliusz Machulski’s ‘My Son’sBrother’s Mother’ directed by Adam Wojtyszko. Machulski’s newest comedy, written especially for the Polish Comedy Centre, was described by the author himself as a black family comedy. ‘My Son’s Brother’s Mother’ is the second (after ‘Next-ex’) preview of Juliusz Machulski’s play staged at Powszechny Theatre in Łódź.

Other premieres planned for the upcoming season include: Yasmin Reza’s ‘God of Carnage’ directed by Katarzyna Kalwat(premiere: 15th January 2011); Marc Camoletti’s ‘Don’t Dress for Dinner’ (preview: 19th March 2011) and Fred Apke’s ‘Letnisko’ directed by Bartosz Zaczykiewicz (the play got the 3rd place in the 2nd edition of ‘Komediopisanie’ competition, preview: May 2011). In the second half of the season our team will begin working on projects for the 2011/2012 season.

In the 2010/2011 season Powszechny Theatre will continue
realizing its earlier initiatives: first and foremost our team will work on the Read Theatre for the blind and visually impaired. In the framework of this project we plan five premieres in the upcoming season:

• the comedy written in the previous season during the drama workshop supervised by Adam Wojyszko
• Arne Sultan’s, Earl Barret’s and Ray Cooney’s ‘Wife Begins at Fourty’
•Tom Stoppard’s ‘Rock’n’Roll’
•Peter Quilter’s ‘Just the Ticket’
• Jarosław Jakubowski’s ‘Życie’

Other projects continued by our team include: Czytania na małą scenę, the highly popular cycle My-our Favourite Poetry and One Zloty Plays – plays for the unemployed.

The Polish Comedy Centre is developing dynamically in Powszechny Theatre. The Centre’s Council is composed of: prof. Dobrochna Ratajczak, Juliusz Machulski i Maciej Wojtyszko. In the new season the Centre will continue and expand its activities. We believe that the Centre could become a comedy ‘laboratory’ where young playwrights would have an opportunity to improve their skills. Therefore, this year we will invite you again to a cycle of drama workshops and a series of discussions devoted to the place and the meaning of comedy in the modern world with the participation of theatre practitioners and theoreticians and specialists in various fields. During these meetings we will debate the subjects of comedy, comedy writing and the characteristic features of Polish humor. The result of the last years workshop – a play written by the participants of the event under the guidance of Maciej Wojtyszko – will be presented twice.

We are incessantly encouraging young creators to turn to comedy genre: this year we are organizing the next edition of ‘Komediopisanie’ competition. The competition is aimed at everyone who is willing to test his or her strength in the difficult field of comedy writing. The results of the third edition of the competition will be announced in January, 2011.

During the new season our Centre will invite you to film projections of the best Polish comedies. The films chosen by professor Maria Kornatowska will be shown in Polonia Cinema.

As every year we will do our best to make our city the theatrical capital of the country. From the 4th of March until the 10th of April we will hold the 17th International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant, one of the most significant theatre festivals in Poland, during which the most important Polish and foreign plays are presented. We try to make the festival not only an artistic but also a social event which does not end as soon as the curtain drops but gives an opportunity for a dialogue with the audience. The Festival treats the theatrical art multidimentionally and as a whole, binding together different artistic and paratheatrical activities. Just as in previous years, this year’s festival will be accompanied by exhibitions, film projections and meeting with the artists which will be managed by Łukasz Drewniak and Paweł Sztarbowski. The contemporary audience expects art to ask questions, to be meaningful, to make demands – our Theatre wants to answer this need.

The Festival’s artistic director Ewa Pilawska and the Festival Councilcomposed of:profesor Maria Kornatowska, Elżbieta Fuchs, doctor Tomasz Majewski, Maja Wójcik and Anna Maria Dolińska, invites you to participate in a multidimensional art, which concerns different spheres and subjects. Supporting the idea of creative confrontation and trying to ask bold questions about the world, man and theatre, this year’s Festival will revolve around the subject of‘the reality of the contemporary theatre’.

We encourage you to take part in our highly succesful, long-term project: Theatre education (a cycle of lectures devoted to theatre history) and History of curtains(meetings devoted to the history of painted curtains).

We do not forget about other theatres in Łódź: the season in Muzyczny Theatre begins on 9th of September, in Nowy and Jaracza Theatre on 10th of September, Wielki Theatre begins staging on 17th of September, Arlekin and Pinokio on 19th and 11th of September. Please, remember to visit Łódź Theatres.

‘Quiet is all, silent is all…’ – nothing of the sorts. Not long ago the holiday season has started at Powszechny Theatre (much later than in other theatres, because we are the only theatre which does not stop staging until the end of July, apart from the Wybrzeże Theatre), but the theatre is still alive. Although all the actors and directors have already gone for their long awaited vacations, Powszechny is still working extremely hard, in order to increase the comfort of our audiences. It could be said, that since we have stopped playing, we have turned into a fast working construction site. We have begun numerous repairs and renovations, which will raise the standards of the Theatre, among which the most important is the construction of a modern, well equipped Small Stage. Because of an enormous popularity of our spectacles, we have long struggled with a lack of space to accommodate all our guests. In order to meet the needs of our audience, we are striding to fish the construction as soon as humanly possible, to be able to stage two spectacles at the same time.

Next season, come and see for yourself:)

It has been four years now, since Powszechny Theatre hasn’t stopped staging spectacles with the last school bell and is open for audiences, also during the holidays! After four years of making people used to the idea, that also during the summer months they are welcome at Legionów 21, we can proudly say, that our audience has not disappointed us. In June and July we’ve been playing four spectacles: Kochanowo i okolice, Kolacja dla głupca, Next-ex and Szalone nożyczki and all of them were played in front of a full audiences, despite of the extremely hot weather and more importantly, the World Football Championships. Photos taken during last weekend’s stagings of Sheer Madness are excellent proof, that our efforts are paying of. Thank You!

One thing our audience drew our attention to was the lack of information concerning Powszechny’s summer activity. We would like to thank all Łódź media, which took part in advertising our July’s spectacles and propagating the fact, that we are one of two theatres in Poland, which do not cease their activity during the summer holidays. We’re counting on your participation also next year!

We have just started working on extending the theatre’s possibilities. We are in the process of building a Small Stage and intensively renovating the spaces we already have, which will enable us to welcome our audiences next season in an even more friendly and comfortable environment.

Once again we would like to greatly thank our audience!

See you in September