“Theatre should serve the Cause.” On Kazimierz Braun’s Theatre Works

The article discusses some facts from the history of Polish theatre at the turn of the 70s and 80s. At the centre of attention here is Kazimierz Braun – director, playwright, theatre researcher, who for political reasons lost his post as the director of Teatr Współczesny in Wrocław, his directorial workmanship and plays directed by him in the country. The first part of the essay deals with a less well-known fact of Braun’s activity as a stage director that is his attempts to bring back to the Polish theatre Tymoteusz Karpowicz, an émigré playwright who had been missing from theatre programmes for years, which was a manifestation of Braun’s consistency and courage in creating programme policy. The second part of the essay brings some thoughts about Braun as a playwright writing for the underground theatre. The title quote: “Theatre should serve the Cause,” which further reads “not (…) rough-and-tumble politics” was taken from Kazimierz Braun’s statement on the freedom of theatre, and expresses the artistic credo of an artist sensitive to the problems of his contemporary times, boldly talking about them, and yet, at the same time, being independent in his attitude and way of thinking.Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II37138