Avant garde theatre in Krakow holds its own funeral
Share
Krakow's avant-garde, experimental theatre company Teatr Nowy is having to close its doors but is turning its demise into an event, inviting fans and friends for a funeral ceremony in March.
Having obtained practically no government subsidies this year, the theatre is being forced to suspend activity. In order to see its productions, ardent theatre lovers will have to travel all the way to Rome in May, where Teatr Nowy has been invited to perform.
"We have just learned that the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage has approved one out of our five motions - we were granted 70,000 zlotys for the promotion of Polish culture abroad," says literary director of Teatr Nowy Tomasz Kirenczuk.
The company has not received any funds for new theatrical productions in Poland, the 5th series of summer holiday plays, workshops and classes for pupils or it's planned Chekhov festival.
Despite the fact that the small theatre was voted Poland's best in 2009 by the country's largest broadsheet daily, the theatre has not managed to tread water in the current economic climate.
While the Polish government has mandated that ministries' tighten purse strings, several hundred million zlotys have been spent on events connected to Chopin Year 2010.
However, it appears that cultural funding has become a political decision as Krakow's only avant-garde theatre is being forced to close, while more mainstream events related to celebrating the birth of the Polish-born Chopin are receiving considerable funding.
