Łaźnia Nowa Theatre is the newest

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

tic

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, founded in 2005. It is located in the district of

Nowa Huta Nowa Huta (, literally "The New Ironworks") is the easternmost district of Kraków, Poland. With more than 200,000 inhabitants, it is one of the most populous areas of the city. Until 1990, the neighbouring districts were considered expansions o ...

which was built from the ground up during the 1950s' Communist policy of Socialist realism. Appropriately, the theatre is residing in the post-industrial halls of a former technical school. ''Łaźnia Nowa Theatre'' was preceded by ''Łaźnia Theatre'', located in

Kazimierz Kazimierz (; ; ) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, located sou ...

(former Jewish district of Kraków). The theatre was originally located in a cellar which used to serve as a Jewish mikvah

hence the name ''łaźnia'' (''

public bath Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

'' in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

). After the theatre was moved to the district of

(literally ''New Steelworks''), the word ''Nowa'' (''New'') was added to its name.

Artistic philosophy

The creators of the theatre assert that all art conveys a ''positive'' message, resulting from the very act of creation. In their productions they spread the same message about their district. The theatre is surrounded by

blocks of flats A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

, green spaces, churches and

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

s. Its objective is to reflect that neighborhood including people who live and work there. District of

, built as a satellite industrial town by the communist government, always used to evoke strong emotions. Planned as a huge centre of heavy industry, Nowa Huta was to become also an ideal town for the communist propaganda. It was the

litmus paper Litmus is a water-soluble mixture of different dyes extracted from lichens. It is often absorbed onto filter paper to produce one of the oldest forms of pH indicator, used to test materials for acidity. In an acidic medium, blue litmus pape ...

of political and social climate in Poland. The inhabitants of Nowa Huta were strongly affected by its history up to the end of communism. Once one of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

's favorite places and the heart of the

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

resistance movement, Nowa Huta witnessed the downfall of its industrial prominence and became stereotyped by mass media in a negative fashion. Łaźnia Nowa Theatre aims to challenge such stereotypes.

Recent shows

*''Cukier w normie'', premiered in April 2005 *''Mieszkam tu'', May 2005 *''Oedipus'' – drama from Nowa Huta, November 2005 *''From Poland with love'', March 2006

References

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About Łaźnia Nowa Theatre – Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laznia Nowa Theatre Theatres in Kraków