Edited by Joanna Krakowska and Daria Odija Adam Mickiewicz Institute Centre for Culture in Lublin Institute of Arts of the Polish Academy of Sciences City of Lublin Platform National Theatre Independent Theatre East Archives European Performing Arts Companion Edited by Joanna Krakowska and Daria Odija Adam Mickiewicz Institute Centre for Culture in Lublin Institute of Arts of the Polish Academy of Sciences City of Lublin Lublin – Warsaw 2016 Copyright by The Centre for Culture in Lublin, the City of Lublin and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, 2016 English language editor Andrew Haydon Special thanks to Marta Keil, Marta Szymańska, Joanna Wichowska, Goran Injac, Iulia Popovici, Attila Szabó Layout kilku.com (Idalia Smyczyńska, Paweł Szarzyński, Robert Zając) Typesetting Karolina Zaborska Printed by Petit SK Set in PT Serif and PT Sans, printed on Alto 90 g/m2 First Edition — isbn 978-83-60263-46-4 — Lublin / Warszawa 2016 Contents 9 Introduction Part 1 National Theatre 16 National Theatre and the State Alexey Strelnikov – Belarus 28 Negotiating National Theatre Angelina Georgieva – Bulgaria 42 National Theatres Lada Čale-Feldman – Croatia 56 The National New Solutions Martina Pecková Černá – Czech Republic 82 Nation (National) Lives in the Past Anna Czékmány – Hungary 96 National Theatre: Characteristics, Influences, Distinguishing Features Sonja Zdravkova-Djeparoska – Macedonia 106 National Theatre: Idea and Institution Danuta Kuźnicka – Poland 116 On the Uses of a National Theatre Miruna Runcan – Romania 132 National People’s Theatre Playhouse Igor Burić – Serbia 144 The Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava Ľubica Krénová – Slovakia 154 National Theatre: Between “nationalising” of culture and “culturalisation” of the nation Aldo Milohnić – Slovenia 164 National Theatre Open to Debate Hanna Veselovska – Ukraine Contents Part 2 Independent Theatre 176 Independent Theatre in Belarus (1980–2013) Tatiana Arcimovič – Belarus 188 Independent Theatre: Purpose, Prospects and Scope Gergana Dimitrova – Bulgaria 202 Independent Performing Arts Scene: Almost but not quite arbitrarily chosen key moments (1990 - 2010) Una Bauer – Croatia 212 Independent Theatre Martina Musilová – Czech Republic 228 The Independent Theatre Noémi Herczog – Hungary 240 Independent Performing Arts Scene Biljana Tanurovska-Kjulavkovski – Macedonia 248 Independent, Alternative, Experimental, Underground? Joanna Krakowska – Poland 258 A Short History of Independent Theatre Iulia Popovici – Romania 266 Independent Theatre: The Varying Contexts of Avant-garde Theatre and Performance Arts in Serbia Ana Isaković – Serbia 282 Independent Theatre Dáša Čiripová – Slovakia 294 Experimental Theatre Barbara Orel – Slovenia 306 Independent: Experimental or Commercial? Anastasia Haishenets, Nadia Sokolenko – Ukraine Contents Part 3 Archives 320 The State of Research Irina Solomatina – Belarus 330 Archives of No Policy Ida Daniel – Bulgaria 340 Theatre / Performance Archives Martina Petranović – Croatia 348 Archives Jan Jiřík – Czech Republic 360 Archives on Arts – Arts on Archives Attila Szabó – Hungary 376 An Attempt to Preserve the Passing Moment Ivona Opetcheska-Tatarchevska – Macedonia 386 Archive as a Public Institution Marta Bryś – Poland 396 Archive(s) Iulia Popovici, Miruna Runcan – Romania 404 What Archives? Aneta Stojnić – Serbia 416 Conserving Fleetingness Vladislava Fekete – Slovakia 428 Protection of Theatre Archives Bojan Himmelreich – Slovenia 438 Archives Oksana Dudko, Viktor Sobiianskyi – Ukraine 449 Notes on Contributors 457 Institutions participating in the project BELARUS BULGARia CROatia CZecH RepUBLic HUNGARY MaceDOnia POLanD ROmania SeRbia SLOVAKIA SLOVenia UKRaine BELARUS Introduction BULGARia CROatia The idea for Platform: An East European Performing Arts Companion arose over years of working with critics, historians and theorists of CZecH RepUBLic theatre from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, who have been meeting since 2008 at conferences and workshops devoted to questions of Theatre After the Change in postcommunist countries. In particular, we have examined the question of how the performing HUNGARY arts – from the artistic and organisational side – in each country handle issues such as elaboration of the past and responsibility for the present. These debates, held first in Budapest and later in Kraków, and taken up during various academic and festival meet- MaceDOnia ings, concerned both the history of theatre in academic discourse and historical narrative conducted in the theatre; both the political entanglement of theatre in the past and its contemporary engage- ment in public life. All of these questions were considered both at the POLanD level of possible general statements and taking into consideration local contexts and the specifics of a given country. It appears that many historical and political questions which can be discussed in relation to the theatre are similar in the former com- ROmania munist countries, and are conditional on similar contexts. Still, they are not similar enough to minimise the differences and ignore the historical, political and national specifics of the region’s individual countries. This tension between the common political and cultural SeRbia experience, and the differences in identity, history, language and mentality, which make cross-border treatment of the region’s theatre impossible, gave rise to a need to create a glossary of fundamental concepts that would capture and name both the similarities and the SLOVAKIA differences. For we realised that certain words, concepts and terms that we use have quite different meanings depending on who uses them, where they are used, what background and experience de- termined their content. This observation led directly to the idea of SLOVenia a book that could establish a platform of mutual understanding by explaining the most important and widely used terms: how they function in different countries, their historical context and why they are frequently misunderstood. So this Platform is needed in UKRaine order to give us certainty that when we talk about institutional, criti- 9 cal, national, independent or avant-garde theatre in the context of social, political and economic transformation, as well as about the role of theatre in public life, we are talking about the same thing, or we at least understand what we’re talking about. This book has two fundamental and clearly defined aspects, historical and contemporary, which relate reflectively to the past and critically to the present. Thus it allows us to raise fundamental questions: Do historical circumstances entitle us to be convinced of a com- monwealth of experience that finds its reflection in the theatre? Do there exist regularities of emergence from the systemic crisis in the countries of the region that would entitle us to formulate gen- eral statements? Finally, does there exist something like a Central European identity? Here it seems particularly important to reflect on the way theatre has functioned under the political rigours of communist times and under economic pressure in capitalism – and the accompanying question of the nature and effects of the limita- tions that result from these conditions. In some sense this project is also a methodological proposal in the social sciences – that theatre and the performing arts be used as a lens through which historical experience, systemic generalities and the discovery of identity can be described and analysed. Last but not least, the purpose is also simply to learn something about theatres and their situation in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe – concretely, substantively and not superficially. We decided to concentrate on three themes, which appear to cover a range of connotations and contexts broad enough that with their help we may gain a view of a range of problems and mechanisms that extend far beyond the performing arts. National Theatre could potentially encompass an entire spectrum of questions – from theatre as an institution and the current priorities of state cultural policy, through a feeling of national identity, its historical condi- tioning and the principles of creating a community, through the role of tradition, historical policy and the method by which theatre functions within the categories of “high art” or “mainstream cul- ture”. Independent Theatre allows reflection on how we understand the concept of “independence” in relation to various oppressive mechanisms, but first and foremost it relates to the question of the structure of theatre life, the economic and political conditions in which theatres operate today and in which they operated in the past. Independent theatre also allows us to inquire about the avant-garde of the theatre, about exploratory and underground theatre, meaning 10 the possibility of doing theatre somehow outside the system. Finally, Introduction Archives is fundamentally a question about the source of research on the history of the theatre in a given country, and, which follows, about the basis for constructing a historical narrative, the degree to which it is ideologised and dependent on state policy. Archives are also – in the contemporary humanities, in academic and artistic discourse – a subject more of creation than of exploration, and thus they reveal, better than any other concept, the methodological traps and the vested interests of all narratives. Including those offered in this Companion. The invitation to join in the creation of Platform: An East European Performing Arts Companion