The Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theatre in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

() is one of the oldest public stages in Poland and a national institution of culture, first opened in 1781. It was named after renowned Shakespearean actress

Helena Modrzejewska Helena Modrzejewska (; born Jadwiga Helena Mizel; October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909), known professionally in the United States as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish-American actress who specialized in William Shakespeare, Shakespearean and tragic ro ...

History

The theatre was created by Feliks Oraczewski, a member of the Polish Parliament (

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

), and the actor Mateusz Witkowski. On 17 October 1781 the Kraków city authorities gave Witkowski permission to perform comedy under the condition that he pay fifty Polish zloty a month to the municipal treasury. In 1798, Jacek Kluszewski, the starosta of Brzeg, took over the theatre and converted two of his own buildings the corner of Szczepański Square and Jagiellonian Street into its permanent home. The theatre is regarded as Poland's leading theatre. In 1997 Krystyna Meissner became the director. Her term here was difficult and the following year she left at the request of the actors. In 2016, the MICET Interactive Museum / Theatre Education Centre opened in the theatre building's 13th century cellars.

References

External links

* Theatres in Kraków

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 ...

Theatres completed in 1781 1781 establishments in Europe Culture in Kraków {{Europe-theat-struct-stub