The Polish Theatre [antikvár]

PREFACE Bn writing this brief essay about the contemporary theatre in Poli land, I was forced to choose one alternative and discard others. The foreign reader, who may not know all the alternatives, should therefore be informed of the criteria which guided me in making my selection, of the scope of this work and of the problems which are omitted and reasons for these omissions. The reader should not be given the impression that he is presented with a comprehensive picture of the Polish contemporary theatre. Fiirst of all I had to decide on what should form the skeleton of the book. Once this was decided, the separate subjects assumed their proper proportions. My approach to the subject of the development of the Polish contemporary theatre was from the point of view of the creative work of the artists. This does not mean that the method adopted is most fitting to the discussion of all artistic phenomena. In countries in which tradition continued unbroken and strong the history of the theatre is identified primarily with the history of specific institutions and theatrical organisms which functioned for years although the persons connected with the theatre were not always the same. For many reasons which will he explained in the book, it was impossible to observe such continuity in the Polish theatre so far. However, one may observe many individual efforts and artistic and organizational goals which when multiplied yield a comprehensive picture of the Polish theatre. Our purpose is to note those features in the efforts and objectives which were common at various periods and those which differed or even opposed each other. In this method, the persons on whom our attention will focus are stage directors and actors, for it is they who constitute the backbone of the