Teatry pozawarszawskie w latach osiemdziesiątych w perspektywie historii mówionych
1980s Theaters outside Warsaw in the Perspective of Oral Histories

Summary/Abstract: This article concerns theater life in Poland in the 1980s, with a focus on the functioning of theaters in mid-size cities. It presents the results of research into the economic and political conditions of their operation, which involved in-depth interviews with five directors managing theaters during that period: Zbigniew Bogdański (Teatr Dramatyczny, Gdynia, 1981–1986), Tomasz Grochoczyński (Teatr Dramatyczny im. Jerzego Szaniawskiego, Płock, 1985–1990), Maciej Grzybowski (Teatr im. Wojciecha Bogusławskiego, Kalisz, 1982–1991), Józef Jasielski (Teatr Dramatyczny, Legnica, 1981–1990), and Andrzej Rozhin (Bałtycki Teatr Dramatyczny im. Juliusza Słowackiego, Koszalin, 1979–1981; Teatr Polski, Szczecin, 1981–1983; Teatr im. Juliusza Osterwy, Lublin, 1985–1993). This research material has been analyzed using categories related to oral history, which enable individual voices of participants in theater life to be taken into account in historical narratives. The interviewees’ recollections, interlocked with their emotions and reflections on their own activity, provide insight into the principles of constructing self-narratives and inscribing them into the dominant ways of ordering and problematizing theater history in Poland. Abridged versions of the interviews have been appended to the article, and the conclusion indicates their potential uses in further research in theater history.

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