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THEATRE AGAINST NON-HUMAN REALITY A FEW SENTENCES ABOUT THE THEATRE OF THE EIGHTH DAY
Abstract
The Theatre of the Eighth Day from Poznan has been the phenomenon of the Polish independent theatre. It was founded in 1964 by students of the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan. As the student’s theatre of poetry, for the first few years it operated under the direction of Tomasz Szymanski. The change of the stage form began two years after the group was founded, when Zbigniew Osinski became involved with him. He brought fascination of the Grotowski's method. The Theatre of the Eighth Day marked their disagreement with the communism reality. Stanislaw Baranczak, one of the most talented poets of the Generation'68, joined the group. In the 1970s he was an activist of the anti-communist opposition. For last years, liberal, pro-European Poland has been experiencing an identity crisis. It seems that the demons have put in the forefront: religious obscurantism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and sexism. Cultural and intellectual openness is replaced by populism and nationalism. The Theatre of the Eighth Day does not remain indifferent to these processes. As in the days of communism takes the side of the open society. The research methods adopted in the article are: analysis of performances, archival materials, photographs and documentary films. Interviews with actors were also conducted.
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