Address:
ul. Marszałkowska 8, Warszawa
tel. +(48-22) 629 87 04,
www.rozmaitosci.pl
Description:
The Variety Theatre in Warsaw – Teatr Rozmaitosci w Warszawie
General Director: Michal Merczynski
Artistic Director: Grzegorz Jarzyna
Since the 1990s, the Teatr Rozmaitosci -Variety Theatre in Warsaw has been one of Poland’s most interesting theatres, a place of innovative stagings by directors like Grzegorz Jarzyna and Krzysztof Warlikowski – members of the so-called “younger, more talented” generation.
The Teatr Rozmaitosci in Warsaw has been operating as an independent institution since 1972, though its beginnings date back to 1945 when a stage managed by the so-called Miejskie Teatry Dramatyczne-Municipal Dramatic Theatres opened in the basement of the building located at 8 Marszalkowska Street. During the 1948/49 season this venue operated under the name of the Teatr Rozmaitosci. It was then transformed into the Teatr Dzieci Warszawy-Theatre of the Children of Warsaw, subsequently into the Teatr Mlodej Warszawy-Theatre of Young Warsaw, and once again into the Variety, though this time it operated as the second stage of the Teatr Klasyczny-Classical Theatre.
The Rozmaitosci does not engage in any form of “ideological” theatre. Instead, its profile is shaped by artists who each follow their own path. However, what is visible today is the theatre’s singular style, a style marked by adopting a distance to the surrounding reality and by sharp and penetrating examination of contemporary times. Thus far, during his tenure as artistic director, Jarzyna has staged KSIAZE MYSZKIN – PRINCE MYSHKIN after Fyodor Dostoyevsky (2000), Thomas Vinterberg and Mogens Rukov’s UROCZYSTOSC – CELEBRATION (2001) and Sarah Kane’s 4.48 PSYCHOSIS (2002). Krzysztof Warlikowski has also become a regular contributor at the Teatr Rozmaitosci, mounting such widely commented productions as William Shakespeare’s HAMLET (1999), Euripides’ THE BACCHAE (2001), Sarah Kane’s CLEANSED (2001) and Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST (2003). More recently the Rozmaitosci opened its doors to Krystian Lupa, Jarzyna’s one-time mentor, who directed STOSUNKI KLARY-CLARA’S RELATIONS based on Dea Loher’s PRZYPADEK KLARY-THE CASE OF CLARA (2003).
