Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre
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The Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre () is a
Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
theatre in
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
, Poland. It is built on the site of a 17th-century theatre, known as the Fencing School, where English travelling players performed works of
English Renaissance theatre The English Renaissance theatre or Elizabethan theatre was the theatre of England from 1558 to 1642. Its most prominent playwrights were William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. Background The term ''English Renaissance theatr ...
. The leading figure in the project to construct the new theatre is Jerzy Limon, a founder of the Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival. It was built by architect Renato Rizzi in the light of Limon's research which suggests that the Fencing School was modelled on the
Fortune Playhouse The Fortune Playhouse was an historic theatre in London. It was located between Whitecross Street, London, Whitecross Street and the modern Golden Lane, London, Golden Lane, just outside the City of London. It was founded about 1600, and suppre ...
in London. Though not an attempt at an exact reproduction, the new theatre combines elements from the design of these earlier theatres with modern technology. It opened in September 2014.


History

Gdańsk was one of the most important destinations for English travelling players in the first half of the 17th century. Their first documented visit was in 1601. Typically they would perform at the courts of
Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
and
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
during winter, and in Gdańsk or
Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...
in the summer. Performances in Gdańsk took place during St. Dominic's Fair, in August. Gdańsk's first public playhouse was built during this period. Known as the Fencing School (''Fechtschule''), it hosted a variety of other entertainments and activities besides the theatrical. After comparing an engraving by Dutch artist Peter Willer published in 1687 to the dimensions given in the builder's contract of 1600 for the
Fortune Playhouse The Fortune Playhouse was an historic theatre in London. It was located between Whitecross Street, London, Whitecross Street and the modern Golden Lane, London, Golden Lane, just outside the City of London. It was founded about 1600, and suppre ...
in London, Jerzy Limon concluded that the Fencing School was built c. 1611 and modelled after the Fortune. He found support for this from archaeological excavations carried out by Marcin Gawlicki on the Gdańsk site in 1997–2000 and 2004. These suggested a plan of by , slightly smaller and less square than the Fortune, which measured by . A 1739 ground plan of the area discovered by Jerzy Michalak was published in 1998, which showed the Fencing School with a square plan. The excavations found remnants of timber posts dating from the 1630s, which according to Limon were the result of a documented renovation of the theatre in 1635. Michalak has suggested that the excavated building was actually Gdańsk's second Fencing School, built in 1635, and that there was an earlier Fencing School, also a theatre, built in 1603 but on a different site. The Fencing School was replaced in the 1740s on the same site, or adjacent to it, by a new municipal theatre known as the Comedy House (''Comoedienhaus''). This was then demolished in the early 19th century, and the site used for housing. The city's Great Synagogue subsequently stood there until it was demolished by the Nazis in 1939. The site was later used as a car park. The Theatrum Gedanense Foundation was founded in 1991, with
Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...
as its patron. In 1993 it established Shakespeare Week, which in 1997 became the Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival. The annual event accompanies Gdańsk's St. Dominic's Fair. In 2004 the Foundation initiated an architectural competition for the new theatre, won in January 2005 by Italian architect Renato Rizzi. Construction became possible when European Union funds were offered in 2007. In September 2009 the groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Polish Prime Minister
Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk (born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014. Tusk served as the president of the European Council (20 ...
. Construction started on 5 March 2011. The theatre was completed at a cost of 95 million zlotys (£18 million), of which 75% was funded by the European Union, with other funds coming from local government. Donald Tusk also attended the theatre's opening on 19 September 2014. It was followed by British Week featuring British touring companies, starting with a Shakespeare's Globe production of ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
''. For 2014 only, the start of the Shakespeare Festival was moved from August to 27 September, to follow the theatre's opening week. The Shakespeare Festival, British Week and Flemish Week will each recur annually in the theatre's program. On July 18, 2017, the theatre was visited by
Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...
and
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, Princess of Wales (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982), is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne. Born in Reading, Berkshire, Readi ...
as part of their royal trip to
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
where they met the theatre's director Jerzy Limon and saw a short play.


Architecture

The building is of
anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a lustre (mineralogy)#Submetallic lustre, submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy densit ...
-black brick, massively
buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...
ed and with few apertures, thereby expressing itself as a
Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...
. A thick wall in the same material runs around the building, creating courtyards of various sizes, except to the west where the building projects beyond it. There is public access to internal walkways within the wall and external ones along its top. The main entrance, at the western end of the northern side, leads into the lobby and the theatre space, with the stage at the eastern end of the auditorium, surmounted by a fly tower. To the east of the tower is a lower block containing backstage areas, dressing rooms, accommodation and offices. The main block's brick shell houses a wooden playhouse structure. Though taking account of the discoveries regarding the earlier theatre, and similarly having three storeys of galleries, the playhouse is not an exact reproduction. Full use is made of modern technology in the retractable roof, which can open or close in three minutes, and a system of 56 lifts, which enables a variety of theatrical configurations, including
thrust stage In theatre, a thrust stage (a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the ...
, proscenium stage and
theatre in the round Theatre-in-the-round, also known as arena theatre or central staging, is a theatrical stage configuration in which the audience surrounds the performance area on all sides. Historically rooted in ancient Greece and Rome performance practices, ...
. The two opening wings of the retractable roof each weigh . Seating capacity is up to 600.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre Theatres in Poland Buildings and structures in Gdańsk Tourist attractions in Gdańsk Theatres completed in 2014 2014 establishments in Poland Shakespearean theatre companies