Polish People's Theater in Lviv - a phenomenon of Soviet times

Abstract

The Polish People's Theater in Lviv is an extraordinary stage in many respects. It was founded in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1958 by a retired Polish language teacher, Piotr Hausvater. He gathered around him a group of enthusiasts, amateurs who over the years managed to create a team that played not only in the Soviet Union, but also outside its borders. There were no professionals among the actors, but the Theater reached a fully professional level and won numerous awards, presenting plays in Polish in the difficult conditions of a totalitarian state. Pupils, students, workers, engineers, teachers and intellectuals - all devoted their private time to create art for charity. The effect of their work was for many Poles in the USSR the only contact with their native language. It was also a way to become acquainted with the cultural heritage of the country with which they still felt a bond. Interestingly, the band was made up not only of people with Polish roots, but also Ukrainians and Russians. It was the Russian artist Valery Bortyakov who managed the Theater after its director, Zbigniew Chrzanowski, had to leave the Soviet Union due to repressions for laying flowers at the monument to Adam Mickiewicz in Lviv. The theater managed to survive the communist repressions and successfully operates to this day, in free Ukraine.