Inspiracje folklorem we współczesnym teatrze amatorskim

Abstract

Setting the direction of development of folk theatres in the 1920s, Jędrzej Cierniak pointed out the need for skilful use of folklore. In his view, this basic resource of texts and theatrical practice allowed such theatres to maintain their distinctiveness and original beauty. Over the following years, the amateur folk theatre took advantage of the advice from the editor of Teatr Ludowy (the Peoples Theatre) to varying degrees. I try to show this by sketching the stories of amateur theatre groups which came into being in Poland after World War II against the background of social and political changes and by describing various strategies for the use of folklore in their performances, such as reconstruction, remix, quote or etno-performance. I discuss them in the context of folklorism, cultural revivalism, and also in the context of artistic practice with a special aesthetic potential in order to indicate to what extent amateur theatres manage to preserve in the Polish imaginarium traces of the past traditions from various regions of Poland preserved in their scripts and ritual performances, to revive them and exploit their performative potential.