News - Teatr Lalka

This volume presents the first 70 years of Teatr Lalka, the Polish puppet theatre founded in Uzbekistan in 1945, operating first as the Blue Almonds Marionette Theatre in Samarkand, later in Kraków (1946–1948), and from 1948 to the present day in Warsaw.

The founder of the theatre was Janina Kilian-Stanisławska, an art historian, graphic artist and illustrator affiliated with the pre-war avant-garde in Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine). This monographic overview of the theatre’s history, published by the theatre as a bilingual book (Polish/English) with over 250 pages, is the first publication of its kind devoted to the puppet theatre stage, drawing on Poland’s splendid theatrical and artistic tradition. It contains illustrations presenting the overall accomplishments of Teatr Lalka in 1945–2015, as well as texts documenting, describing and interpreting the theatre’s artistic oeuvre, aesthetics and styles. The articles examining the theatre’s history were written by Henryk Izydor Rogacki, Barbara Osterloff and Marek Waszkiel, and the chronicle in calendar form was prepared by Joanna Rogacka.

The first section of the book is full of portraits of puppets—over 130 characters starring in the shows presented at Teatr Lalka over its first seven decades. These works were created using various techniques by such masters of the theatrical arts as Zofia Stanisławska-Howurkowa, Adam Kilian, Rajmund Strzelecki, Zygmunt Smandzik, Joanna Braun, Mikołaj Malesza, and Eva Farkašová.

Puppet of Zwyrtała, Adam Kilian, "Zwyrtała the Fiddler", 1956. Cover M. Jędrczak, photo D. Raczyński (JPG, 2303KB)
Puppet of Fisherman's Wife, Zofia Stanisławska-Howurkowa, "Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish", 1950, Photo D. Raczyński (JPG, 1965KB)
Puppet of Devil, Adam Kilian, "Zwyrtała the Fiddler", 1956. Fot. D. Raczyński (JPG, 1823KB)
Puppet of Cinderella, Joanna Braun, "Cinderella", 2004. Photo D. Raczyński (JPG, 2188KB)
Puppet of Christine, Eva Farkasova, "The Stange Child", 2012. Photo. D. Raczyński (JPG, 1831KB)