Culture wars in Poland: Teatr Polski actors revolt against new director – The Guardian
Silent treatment a protest by members of the Polski theatre in September 2016. Photograph: Natalia Kabanow
Since 2014, Teatr Polski, one of Polands leading theatre companies, has toured worldwide with an adaptation of Thomas Bernhards Woodcutters, directed by the widely acclaimed Krystian Lupa. Last December in Paris, at the curtain call, audiences were treated to an additional performance: the actors returned to the stage with their mouths defiantly stuck shut with black tape.
The silent protest was the most recent of many against the companys management and its director, Cezary Morawski, who took over in September 2016, replacing the long-serving Krzysztof Mieszkowski. The escalating row casts a spotlight on the complex relationship between politics and culture under the jurisdiction of Polands ruling nationalist Law and Justice party. It also echoes a recent dispute at Berlins Volksbhne theatre, where critics have questioned incoming director Chris Dercons stage experience, and fear he will take the company in a more mainstream, commercialised direction. Teatro Polskis actors have said Morawskis artistic approach is old-fashioned, lacking in ambition and risk, and has already damaged the theatres credibility.
The dispute at the publicly funded institution, based in Wrocaw in western Poland, has seen staff dismissals, petitions against Morawski including one in France that was signed by more than 1,200 people, including Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert and Peter Brook and the intervention of Polands culture minister, Piotr Gliski, whose department supplies a substantial part of the theatres funding. Regional Polish authorities began preliminary dismissal proceedings against Morawski in February, and the national government is expected to make a non-binding recommendation on his future by 15 March. If he is dismissed, Morawski has said he will appeal against the decision.
Leading actors have left the theatre, others have been fired by the director for their part in the protests, and even for making negative statements about his directorship, Lupa told the Guardian. If this fight will indeed be a success, that victory is not to be underestimated.
The roots of the conflict go back to 2015, shortly before the theatres premiere of Der Tod und das Mdchen (Death and the Maiden I-V: Princess Plays), based on a book by the Nobel prize-winning Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek. At the time, Gliski wrote to the Lower Silesian administration, which oversees the theatres management, to accuse the play of pornography in its full and literal meaning and calling for it to be cancelled. The play begins with a scene of simulated foreplay, which the theatre claimed was an exploration of the relationship between torturer and victim. The production was typical of what Lupa a former collaborator who has severed ties over Morawskis appointment describes as the institutions aura of independent art and independent discourse something that is increasingly at odds with the pro-Catholic, ultra-conservatism of Polands government. Croatian playwright Oliver Frljis production of Kltwa (The Curse), which premiered at Warsaws Teatr Powszecheny last month and tackles subjects including sexual abuse in the Catholic church, has attracted nationalist protesters, political condemnation and criticism from state media.
Morawski, a former television actor, replaced Mieszkowski after a selection process that detractors claim was non-transparent and politically motivated. Morawskis opponents say he lacks experience in running a similar venue. He wont risk anything. He will do everything the government will say, said Micha Opaliski, one of the protesting actors, against whom the theatre has started dismissal proceedings. Morawski blames Mieszkowski, who has been a member of parliament in the liberal Modern party since 2015, for the theatres politicisation.
Morawskis relationship with staff who were already upset by his appointment quickly deteriorated, exacerbated by his artistic priorities. I wanted to make the number and quality of the pieces in the theatre broader. We want to go back to the classics, Morawski said in a telephone interview. We want to attract new people and new, broader audiences. Of course we want to have a modern interpretation, and this can translate into some experimentation. He emphasised that when it comes to topics, there are no restrictions, and claimed he inherited significant debt from his predecessor.
Since starting in the job, Morawskis has cancelled seven productions in the companys repertoire, blaming declining audience numbers, and actors moving to other theatres. He said Der Tod und das Mdchen is not currently being staged because of a lack of performers and the high cost of storing [scenery]. After failed negotiations, he has fired three actors, six administrative employees and the literary director, Piotr Rudzki. Other dismissal proceedings are ongoing. As a new director I have the right to shape my team in such a way as to cooperate with them, he said. Faced with such turmoil, a delayed run of Molires The Hypochondriac, originally billed as the first major production under Morawksis leadership, will premiere on 16 March.
As press interest across Europe has increased, pressure on Morawski has risen. A petition with almost 10,000 signatories was presented to regional government officials in late February. Local officials noted failings including Morawskis reduced repertoire, the departure of his staff and his delayed productions and began dismissal proceedings against him. But a spokesperson for the governments culture ministry highlighted in an email that Morawski has been in position for less than half a year and that removing a director in the course of the season will make a precedent for the functioning of the whole system of cultural institutions in Poland.
Those concerned about the theatres future now anxiously await the ministers recommendation. The conflict has polarised into two extremes a national Catholic culture and [those] who wish to defend the culture of independent art, said Lupa. My only hope is that the Polski Theatre gets back on track, after being derailed, and I can get back to work. If a standoff between regional and national politicians ensues, the theatres future though not its status as a political pawn will remain unclear.
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Culture wars in Poland: Teatr Polski actors revolt against new director - The Guardian