Polish theatre life in Kiev during the years 1905-1918

Kiev in 1905–1918 was an active centre of Polish émigré cultural life. Following several decades of stagnation, the Polish society began vigorously setting up ever new associations, societies, libraries, printing houses and theatres there. Polish institutions could be found at almost every turn in this dynamically developing metropolis that vibrated with life, including in the most representative parts of the city.

This study concentrates on a description of change in Polish theatre life. The key protagonist is provincial theatre: lacking big names or outstanding performances yet colourful in its heroic struggle with day-to-day reality. After 1914, through the persistent and consistent effort of a group of theatre buffs it finally saw its heyday come and won the well-deserved title of the leading émigré stage, where the greatest artists of Polish theatre performed.

This book seeks to present the broadest possible spectrum of Polish engagement in theatre life, focusing of the activities of both professional and amateur ensembles, the organisation of plays for special occasions and performances by visiting artists. However, the aim is not to merely document, but most of all to convey the variety of vivid and multi-layered phenomena. The activity of Polish theatres was affected significantly by great international politics, world-wide crises and wars on the one hand, and small-scale, provincial matters, local sympathies and hostilities as well as backstage relationships on the other hand.

Piotr Horbatowski works at the Jagiellonian University's Centre for the Polish Language and Culture in the World. He is a graduate of the Department of Polish Studies, specialisation: teatrologia. His academic interests focus on Polish émigré theatre, in particular in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. His doctoral dissertation, which has been published, is devoted to Polish theatre life in Kiev in 1918–1938. Another of his passions is language teaching. He has designed a curriculum for teaching Polish as a foreign language through theatre activities. For over ten years he has been the head of a theatre studio for foreigners at the Jagiellonian University, which stages plays in Polish.