W artykule poddano analizie dwujęzyczny dramaturgiczno-inscenizacyjny wspólny projekt Sceny Polskiej i České scény (Sceny Czeskiej) Těšínského divadla (Teatru Cieszyńskiego) w Českém Těšíně (Czeskim Cieszynie) pn. Těšínské niebo Cieszyńskie nebe. Ten muzyczny „sentymentalny rajd tramwajowy – sentymentální tramvajová rallye” przez wieki po wielokulturowym regionie i wielokulturowym mieście był – zgodnie z zamierzeniem realizatorów przedsięwzięcia: Jaromíra Nohavicy, Renaty Putzlacher, Radovana Lipusa, Tomaša Kočko – „próbą spojrzenia na cieszyńską ziemię przez pryzmat minionych lat i zdarzeń, pełną nostalgii i humoru, z przywołaniem związanych z tym regionem postaci prawdziwych i mitycznych”1. Próbą przeprowadzoną zgodnie z przyjętą przez autorów projektu nadrzędną, zainspirowaną przez ideę euroregionu, zasadą eksponowania tego, co społeczność pogranicza łączyło/łączy i w efekcie tworzy płaszczyznę wartości wspólnych, a nie tego, co dzieliło/dzieli. Poszukiwanie wspólnych elementów kultury, podobieństw dziejów okazało się tutaj zbieżne z założeniami edukacji międzykulturowej. Przyjętą opcję postrzegania polsko-czeskich pogranicznych dziejów oraz wizję współistnienia obu narodów w Cieszyńskim determinował nadto fakt przyjęcia obu państw w struktury Unii Europejskiej (premiera spektaklu 15 maja 2004 roku). Z tej perspektywy została skonstruowana materia następujących po sobie sekwencji spektaklu i wyłaniała się koncepcja człowieka pogranicza jako człowieka pełniejszego, bo wzbogaconego duchowo innością drugiego. Przedstawienie współuczestniczyło w podejmowanym po 1989 roku procesie formowania odpowiednio wysokiego poziomu zbiorowej tożsamości lokalnej, regionalnej oraz euroregionalnej społeczności zamieszkujących oba miasta graniczne i oba przygraniczne obszary.

The theatre of and for the nuns (Naples, 18th century)

Recent studies have focused on the musical environment and the theatre in female monasteries of many Italian cities between the 16th and 18th centuries. These art forms became famous as forms of entertainment in travel literature and in the chronicles of the time but were forbidden in the age of the Counter-Reformation. However, the theatrical performances, both in prose and in music, enjoyed enormous success and spread in male and female monasteries. As of the 17th century, if not even earlier, travellers from half of Europe arrived in Naples, attracted by the excellence of the musical and theatrical performances that they could enjoy in the monasteries of the city. This essay aims to reconstruct the times, the modalities, and the contents of the theatrical offerings in the female monasteries of Naples at the beginning of the 18th century, all of which are still unknown today. In particular, the case of the Franciscan monastery of St Chiara will be examined. Through the patronage of Queen Maria Amalia, musical and theatrical performances played an active leading role in the configuration of a specific theatrical type and taste and increased the education of the nuns and young women who were educated in the monastery, representing and legitimising new feelings and sensibilities. The religious women found a way to talk of their feelings and concerns together; they forged relationships even with the environments outside of the monastery and especially with the Queen’s court and with the courts of the aristocratic palaces of their families of origin.

After the 1800’s, “Century Of Actresses”, a few core points on Italian actresses in the 1900’s

Critical studies on the theatre from the 19th and 20th centuries, even founding ones, are limited as they do not include a gender category - a paradox in a space where bodies are central. The actresses, in fact, give life to different stories, which allow for the enrichment of historical-critical reconstructions. Given the vastness of the topic, this article aims to identify some fundamental turning points. We begin with the legacy of the 19th century, rich from both a linguistic and a historical-critical viewpoint; the article moves on to the post-Duse period, which saw, on the one hand, the birth of the actor-artist’s Italian specificity and, on the other, the crisis of female leaders of theatre companies; then, the article discusses the birth of Italian theatre direction in the period following the Second World War and the reaction of a few actresses, like Anna Magnani, who aimed to re-create the reality that was to be reclaimed by the history of theatre. Finally, the article explores the breakdown caused by the New Theatre and even calls into discussion the word for “actress”, with overlaps in the fields of theatre direction and dramaturgy.

Thinking back to Cani di bancata by Emma Dante. Mammasantissima’s androgynous costumes

The essay reflects on Emma Dante, the unusual and versatile artist (theatre manager, actress-author, film and opera director). Emma Dante’s story condenses different and apparently conflicting experiences and knowledge (the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome, the teachings of Vacis in Turin, the laboratories with Cesare Ronconi) before the foundation of the Sud Costa Occidentale group in Palermo, in 1999, with its subsequent transformations continuing until today. The result is an irregular figure of a “matriarch”, in the fruitful vein of new Sicilian dramaturgy, which takes nourishment from the land of origin but with which she feeds a collective and authorial theatre. This theatre is both dramatic (indeed tragi-comic) and post-dramatic, with European depth, and it is not spared of controversy and criticism, as it is awkward and uncomfortable. The analysis of her performance in Cani di bancata (2006) aims to highlight themes and styles connected to a feminism that goes beyond gender in the strict sense but that is able to become a metaphor of a world and a human diversity that involves and disturbs us through an irreverent gaze.

Praca skupia się przede wszystkim na analizie zmiany, jaka zachodzi w kulturze masowej, odkąd jej dystrybucja została zdominowana przez masowe środki rejestrujące. Do tej pory interakcje społeczne oparte były głównie na kontakcie bezpośrednim, jednak wraz z pojawieniem się zjawiska audiowizualności relacje międzyludzkie i rodzaj komunikacji diametralnie się zmieniły. Rozwój mass mediów i ich upowszechnienie sprawiło, iż kultura zaczyna być postrzegana jako produkt zaspokajający nasze potrzeby i sprawiający przyjemność. W pracy pojawia się stwierdzenie, że mimo wszystko nie da się uciec od kultury masowej, która stała się już w zasadzie kulturą obecnie panującą, w której każdy z odbiorców jest zanurzony. Także każdy wytwór owej kultury jest produktem kultury popularnej i dawniej obowiązujący podział na kulturę niższą oraz wyższą generalnie przestał funkcjonować. W nowo obowiązującej rzeczywistości kultury masowej pojawia się pytanie o miejsce teatru jako sztuki opartej na bezpośrednim kontakcie aktora z publicznością i zawartej między nimi umowy społecznej, obowiązującej na czas przedstawienia. Jednak analiza przedstawienia pt. Dziady pokazuje, że sztuka teatralna doskonale odnajduje się w popkulturowej rzeczywistości, wykorzystując do tego audiowizualność.

Artykuł obejmuje zagadnienia z zakresu resocjalizacji kreującej i pedagogiki teatru. Rozważania wynikają z realizacji projektu warsztatów teatralnych w ośrodku kuratorskim z młodzieżą niedostosowaną społecznie. Efektem tych działań był spektakl teatralny, a reakcje i interpretacje odbiorców badano autorskim Kwestionariuszem recepcji widza. Inspiracją do podjęcia tak zakrojonego działania stała się koncepcja twórczej resocjalizacji Marka Konopczyńskiego, zogniskowana wokół rozwijania potencjalności i kreowania nowych, indywidualnych kompetencji. Etapy pracy teatralnej były koherentne i odpowiadały fazom procesu twórczego. Przedmiotem podjętych rozważań jest ostatnia z nich, czyli weryfikacja - ocena trafności idei oraz aktów kreacji, której dokonywali widzowie. Teatr jest dialogiem między nadawcą - kreatorem a odbiorcą - widzem. Ta diada jest tu szczególna, gdyż niecodzienna, osadzona w wymiarach pedagogicznym i kulturalnym. Inicjatorka przedsięwzięcia, a jednocześnie autorka tego opracowania, była ciekawa, w jaki sposób widzowie dokonają percepcji tematu ukazanych obrazów oraz jaki nadadzą im sens, jakie przypiszą znaczenie. Zainteresowanie wzbudzał również wymiar przeżycia estetycznego i emocjonalnego odbiorców spektaklu. Podjęto także próbę odpowiedzi na pytanie: „czy praca teatrem może stanowić konkretną propozycję działań profilaktyczno-wychowawczych, resocjalizacyjnych?”. Recepcja widzów została skategoryzowana poprzez zadane w kwestionariuszu pytania, a całokształt uzyskanych wypowiedzi, tych lapidarnych i narracji o pełniejszym kształcie, tworzy ciekawą, nasyconą humanizmem optykę wydarzenia.

The article raises the issue of research in artistic expression and creativity used in therapy. Such research requires an interdisciplinary approach combining the humanities (art studies) and the social studies (pedagogy, psychology, sociology), which causes issues with implementing a consistent research perspective. The author points out a few issues, called “sensitive areas”, and analyses them in relation to the disabled people theatre. These are: the presentation status of such groups, the dangers of subjectivism or the necessity of implementing the qualitative research model, the methods of research documentation.

The image of Chinese and Japanese Theatre in selected popular and artistic press printed in Poland in 1930s.

Journalists who described Oriental theatres usually based their narrative on personal experience. Both specialist, mass and popular press paid particular attention to elements that distinguished Japanese and Chinese theatre from their European counterpart. The length of performance, innovative technical solutions, different acting style were the elements that received most attention. Nonetheless, sometimes it was impossible to explain the origins of those differences. Furthermore, the above-mentioned differences usually spoke against Chinese theatre. It was criticized for different music, moveable stage scenery, exaggerated acting that was hard to understand. Such attitude was the result of lack of understanding of Chinese opera’s conventions. On the other hand, press eagerly commended the richness of Chinese actors’ costumes and ,,shadow puppet theatre”. Moreover, Polish press also stressed that both classical and modern Chinese theatre enjoyed immense popularity among Chinese people. Polish press went easy on theatrical art in Japan depicting differences that were in many cases the same as in Chinese theatre as something neutral, even positive as it gave the play magical touch. Sometimes it was emphasized that Japanese theatre could become a source of inspiration for its European counterpart. It was praised for masks, costumes, moveable stage scenery and music. It is interesting that in the last two instances Chinese theatre was looked down on. Polish press also spoke favourably of puppet theatre and ,,Takarazuka” performances. On the other hand, magazines’ opinions on acting varied.

This article presents influencing with art1 and influencing through art2 aiming at the creation of situations which support the potential of individuals, especially in the case of children from backgrounds with ineffective parenting. Children from such backgrounds participated in an arts therapy project which aimed to facilitate creative activity through the preparation of a theatre show. Children’s cognitive, psychological and emotional needs are important, which is why the satisfaction of these needs was also an aim, as it was found that these needs were not being satisfied in the children’s culturally deprived environment. Influencing through art (in this case - a performing art) can very well serve the satisfaction of individual needs related to self-identification and self-definition (Bauman, 2010). From this point on, it is a straight road to influencing individuals’ self-esteem.

Taming the Other by theatre – the case of the project “NIEW(INNY)”

The aim of the article is to show the potential of theatrical art in intercultural education, and more specifically in the process of taming the broadly understood Otherness. The first part of the study presents the conceptual categories: the Other and the Stranger in the perspective of intercultural education. The intercultural intentions of art are also characterized, with particular focus on theatre and emphasizing the role of theatre activities in developing attitudes of tolerance towards cultural diversity. The most important features of theatre allowing for the recognition of theatre as an effective and attractive tool for intercultural education were indicated. The second part of the study is related to educational practice, as it is a record of an original theatre project addressed to primary school students, aimed at sensitizing to cultural differences. As part of the project, a spectacle dealing with the issues of various dimensions of Strangeness / Otherness (biological, economic, cultural, geophysical, mental) was realized, emphasizing their relativity and contextuality. There were also theatrical and intercultural workshops referring to the performance and to developing the attitude of tolerance with the use of such theatrical techniques as: movement games, drama, theatre improvisation, voice games with theatrical intention.

Attitudes of five-six year old children in preschool education towards cultural diversity in the cognitive component, stimulated by creative intersemiotic translation of a literary text

The article presents an original study based on the perspectives on diversity, not solely cultural but also diversity of the disabled and beyond the canon of corporeality. The conducted studies provided an answer to the question: Did the method of intersemiotic translation in transcoding the content of literary works on intercultural and inclusive topics into the language of theatre and visual arts impact the change of attitude towards cultural diversity? In the course of this pedagogical experiment, supplemented with survey and observation techniques, the attitudes of five – and six-year-old children (the experimental group, first and second control group) towards differences in the cognitive, emotional and behavioral components were distinguished. The method of intersemiotic translation implemented in an experimental group, leading to the division of children’s attitudes towards people who are different, as well as the acquired knowledge about otherness and discovering literary texts, developed methods for formulating accurate results in children. The results obtained are of great importance for intercultural education and carry great value, because the conducted experiment and the intercultural texts used aroused children’s interest in otherness, allowed them to understand it and understand that there is no alien thing that could not become their own.

In every historical period man makes attempts to gain control over the world of nature in order to create the best possible conditions for their day-to-day existence. Yet it happens that an individual’s endeavours do not bring the intended and expected results. As a consequence people experience a series of difficulties they do not always find easy to deal with In such a situation a human being looks for solutions which will allow them to find their place yet again in different fields of life, help them carry out their plans and satisfy their needs. This text presents the ways in which people have created theatre to cater for their needs over the centuries, how they have made use of it and how it may be of help to them today in their daily lives.