It was in 1982 that the Mandala Theatre came into being with the performance ‘Aren’t we secretly holding hands under the table that separates us’prepared together with Katarzyna Deszcz and a group of musicians.
The performance, called ‘mandala’ because of its specific structure based on a cyclical repetition of elements, gave the group its name.
At the end of 1982, after Jerzy Sitarz, the poet and playwright from Kraków had joined us, we declared our theatre officially open.
The first members of the group were the graduates of the Kraków art schools and actors from some repertory theatres interested in unconventional forms of work in the theatre.
The first venue - the Cistercian monastery near Kraków.
Religious motivation played no part whatsoever in our choice. The Church (during the marshal law in particular) was an important patron of culture. The Cistercian monastery, with its beautiful stage provided us with an opportunity to work, in relative freedom, on more universal problems and to escape the politics. It was there that the first artistic foundations were laid and the first performance with a big group of actors took place (‘The Constant Prince’). Unfortunately, a year later, the theatre had to leave the monastery.
For the next few years, till 1987, we had to move constantly. The most important thing was to maintain the pace of work and the rhythm of workshops and rehearsals. Everyday rehearsals, meetings... etc. Because of our financial situation (the company did not have official sponsors i.e. we did not receive funds from the local council) we could only work at night (it was cheaper). But it was very tiring and with time gave rise to tension among the actors. At the same time many artists, appreciating new methods of our work in the theatre, tried to do something to improve our situation. The result of our mutual efforts was a centre for theatrical research "The Mandala Theatre Center" supported by the local arts council. - read more >>