Juliusz Osterwa, born Julian Andrzej Maluszek (

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, 23 June 1885 – 10 May 1947,

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 ...

), was a renowned Polish actor, theatre director and art theoretician active in the interwar period. He was the founder of Theatre Reduta, the first experimental stage in

following Poland's return to independence at the end of World War One. Osterwa began his Warsaw career at the age of 33 by staging the works of Poland's revolutionary

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

s including

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; french: Jules Slowacki; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of mode ...

Stanisław Wyspiański Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter and poet, as well as interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created a series of symbolic, national dramas within ...

Stefan Żeromski Stefan Żeromski ( ; 14 October 1864 – 20 November 1925) was a Polish novelist and dramatist belonging to the Young Poland movement at the turn of the 20th century. He was called the "conscience of Polish literature". He also wrote under t ...

Jerzy Szaniawski Jerzy Szaniawski (Zegrzynek, 10 February 1886 – 16 March 1970, Warsaw) was a Polish writer, playwright, and essayist; an elected member of the prestigious Polish Academy of Literature in the interwar period. He is best remembered for his series ...

Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (12 February 1865 – 18 January 1940) was a Polish Goral poet, novelist, playwright, journalist and writer. He was a member of the Young Poland movement. Life Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer was born in Ludźmierz in Pod ...

, and

Cyprian Norwid Cyprian Kamil Norwid, a.k.a. Cyprian Konstanty Norwid (; 24 September 1821 – 23 May 1883), was a nationally esteemed Polish poet, dramatist, painter, and sculptor. He was born in the Masovian village of Laskowo-Głuchy near Warsaw. One of h ...

. This team was commonly known as the actor's commune, resembling an ascetic monastery devoted to spiritual practice.

Career

Osterwa began his theatre career in 1904 in Kraków, at the

Ludowy Theatre The Ludowy Theatre (''literally: People's Theatre'', pl, Teatr Ludowy) in Kraków, located at ''Osiedle Teatralne'' housing development in district Nowa Huta, opened on 3 December 1955. At that time in the Polish People's Republic, the official p ...

run by actor Stefan Jaracz during the

Partitions Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

.WK
Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Cracow.
Culture in archival documents, EuArchives.org via Internet Archive. He was performing at the

Zielony Balonik Zielony Balonik (literally, ''the Green Balloon'') was a popular literary cabaret founded in Kraków by the local poets, writers and artists during the final years of the Partitions of Poland. The venue was a gourmet restaurant of Apolinary J. Mic ...

literary cabaret. Osterwa travelled extensively in the 1920s with his Reduta troupe. In mere 900 days they performed over 1,500 times in 173 Polish cities. In 1925, the Reduta Theatre visited Latvia. In 1931 Osterwa settled back in Warsaw and a year later, assumed the role of a director at the grand

Juliusz Słowacki Theatre Juliusz Słowacki Theatre ( pl, Teatr im. Juliusza Słowackiego w Krakowie) is a 19th-century Eclectic theatre-opera house in the heart of Kraków, Poland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Erected in 1893, it was modeled after some of the best ...

. He went back to touring with Reduta across the country in 1935. Following the 1939

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 ...

by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Osterwa was active in the underground education but also became ill. He performed for the last time in 1946 following the Soviet takeover, in the title role of ''Fanatazy'' by Słowacki in his Kraków theatre. He died a year later in Warsaw.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterwa, Juliusz Polish theatre directors 1885 births 1947 deaths Burials at Salwator Cemetery Male actors from Warsaw