The Ateneum Theatre in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

( pl, Teatr Ateneum im. Stefana Jaracza w Warszawie) is a Polish dramatic theatre founded in 1928. It resides in a building erected a year earlier in the

interwar Poland The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

as headquarters for the Professional Union of PKP Railway Workers with offices upstairs. After World War II, the severely damaged structure was restored to its former glory with public funds. The state-run theatre reopened in 1951; named after its first and already famous prewar director

Stefan Jaracz Stefan Jaracz (24 December 1883 – 11 August 1945) was a Polish actor and theater producer. He served as the artistic director of Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw during the interwar period (1930–32), and within a short period raised its reputation ...

History

The ''Ateneum'' Theatre began as an experimental stage with strong socio-political profile, under an Avant-garde-inspired name ''The Outpost of Spoken Word'' (Placówka Żywego Słowa). Its artistic manifesto was influenced by the mainly proletarian Warsaw neighbourhood of Powiśle in which it was established. Stefan Jaracz (1883 - 1945)

Two years into its existence, the

artistic direction An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

of Ateneum was taken over by popular actor

(1930). He worked there until the Nazi-Soviet

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, sharing his responsibilities with

Leon Schiller Leon Schiller or Leon Schiller de Schildenfeld (14 March 1887 – 25 March 1954) was a Polish theatre and film director, as well as critic and theatre theoretician. He also wrote theatre and radio screenplays and composed music. He was born in Kra ...

in 1932–33 season, and with Karol Adwentowicz (1934). Together, they raised the theatre's reputation as one of the leading voices for Poland's new

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...

. The groundbreaking performances included '' The Street Scene'' by

Elmer Rice Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays ''The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Sce ...

(1930), ''

Danton's Death ''Danton's Death'' (''Dantons Tod'') was the first play written by Georg Büchner, set during the French Revolution. History Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between Romanticism and Realism in the so-called Vormärz era in German hi ...

'' by

Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...

(1931), ''Senat Szaleńców'' by

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

victim

Janusz Korczak Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878 or 1879 – 7 August 1942), was a Polish Jewish educator, children's author and pedagogue known as ''Pan Doktor'' ("Mr. Doctor") or ''Stary Doktor'' ("Old Doctor"). After spending ma ...

(1931), the ''Tsar Lénine'' by

François Porché François Porché (born Cognac, November 21, 1877 - died Vichy, April 19, 1944) was a French dramatist, poet and literary critic. The French Academy awarded him the Grand Prix de Literature in 1923. '' Les Butors et la Finette'', a "symbolical an ...

(1932), and in the vein of political ''Zeittheater'' of the time, '' The Captain of Köpenick'' by

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was t ...

(1932) and ''

Roar China! Roar may refer to: Film and television * ''Roar'' (film), an American adventure-comedy film starring Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith * '' Roar: Tigers of the Sundarbans'', a 2014 Hindi-language Indian animal horror feature film * ''Roar'' (199 ...

'' by Sergei Tretyakov (1933); not to mention the popular ''Ladies and Husars'' (Damy i Huzary) by

Aleksander Fredro Aleksander Fredro (20 June 1793 – 15 July 1876) was a Polish poet, playwright and author active during Polish Romanticism in the period of partitions by neighboring empires. His works including plays written in the octosyllabic verse ('' Zemst ...

(1932) and ''The Open House'' by

Michał Bałucki Michał Bałucki, pseudonym ''Elpidon'' (September 29, 1837 in Kraków – October 17, 1901 in Kraków), was a Polish playwright and poet. Biography He studied at Saint's Ann gymnasium in Cracow, and then at the Jagiellonian University. He was ...

. The neighbourhood of Powiśle was almost completely destroyed by Nazi German bombardment during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

of 1944. The theatre was consumed by fire. It was practically rebuilt after the liberation, based on design by Wiktor Ballogh, with due consideration for its original look. The grand reopening took place on 22 July 1951, with the première of ''Intervention'' by Lev Slavin in the spirit of socialist-realist doctrine imposed by the Communist Party in

Stalinist Poland Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...

. For the next forty years the theatre was under the direction of

Janusz Warmiński Janusz () is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People *Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter * Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician * Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic pri ...

(1922–1996) who managed to outlive and outgrow the Soviet system beyond the

revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

. Almost all prominent Polish actors performed at Ateneum throughout its existence including

Jadwiga Andrzejewska Jadwiga Andrzejewska (1915–1977) was a Polish film and theater actress who was popular between the World Wars in Poland and Germany. Filmography This filmography lists only most important movies: * ''Milioner (film), Milioner'' (1977 in film, ...

, prof.

Aleksander Bardini Aleksander Bardini (17 November 1913 – 30 July 1995) was a Polish theatre and opera director, actor, notable professor at the State Theatre School in Warsaw. He appeared in 30 films between 1937 and 1994. Selected filmography * '' Long Is ...

Henryk Bista Henryk Bista (12 March 1934 – 8 October 1997) was a Polish actor. He appeared in over 110 films between 1961 and 1997. He starred in the 1977 film '' Death of a President'', which was entered into the 28th Berlin International Film Festiva ...

Zbigniew Cybulski Zbigniew Hubert Cybulski (; 3 November 1927 – 8 January 1967) was a Polish people, Polish actor, one of the best-known and most popular personalities of the post-World War II history of Poland. Life Zbigniew Cybulski was born 3 November 192 ...

Edward Dziewoński Edward Dziewoński (16 December 1916 in Moscow, Russian Empire – 17 August 2002 in Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish stage and film actor, and theatre director. He studied acting at Państwowy Instytut Sztuki Teatralnej and debuted at the Syr ...

, Jerzy Duszyński,

Tadeusz Fijewski Tadeusz Fijewski (14 July 1911 – 12 November 1978) was a Polish stage and film actor.Tadeusz Fijewski
at ...

Adam Hanuszkiewicz Adam Hanuszkiewicz (16 June 1924 – 4 December 2011) was a Polish actor and theatre director. Hanuszkiewicz was born in Lwów, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 ...

Gustaw Holoubek Gustaw Teofil Holoubek (21 April 1923 – 6 March 2008) was a Polish actor, director, member of the Polish Sejm, and a senator. Holoubek participated in the September Campaign and was a prisoner of war during the Nazi German Occupation of Pol ...

Emil Karewicz Emil Karewicz (13 March 1923 – 18 March 2020) was a Polish actor. Early life His acting career began in Wilno, at the local theatre, where he played the role of a monkey in the "Quartet" by Ivan Krylov. During World War II he served in the Po ...

Bogumił Kobiela Bogumił Kobiela (31 May 1931 – 10 July 1969) was a Polish stage and film actor. He was an actor of , Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw, Komedia Theatre in Warsaw, Bim-Bom student theatre, Kabaret Wagabunda and Kabaret Dudek. He suffered serious inj ...

Jan Kociniak Jan Kociniak (8 November 1937 – 20 April 2007) was a Polish film and theatre actor. Jan Kociniak was born in Stryj, Poland (now Ukraine). He graduated from The Warsaw Higher Theatrical School in 1961 and for most of his professional career he ...

Agnieszka Osiecka Agnieszka Osiecka (Polish pronunciation: ; 9 October 1936 – 7 March 1997) was a Polish poet, writer, author of theatre and television screenplays, film director and journalist. She was a prominent Polish songwriter, having authored the lyrics to ...

Aleksandra Śląska Aleksandra Śląska (4 November 1925 – 18 September 1989) was a Polish film actress. She appeared in 18 films between 1948 and 1983. Born in Katowice, Upper Silesia, she left for Warsaw after World War II. She was buried in the Powązki ...

, and

Roman Wilhelmi Roman Zdzisław Wilhelmi (June 6, 1936 in Poznań – November 3, 1991 in Warsaw) was a Polish theatre and film actor, notable for his roles in two of the most popular Polish television series of the 1980s. In 1958, he graduated from the Natio ...

among others.

Notes and references

{{Authority control Theatres in Warsaw Buildings and structures in Warsaw

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Theatres completed in 1928 1928 establishments in Poland