ABSTRACT
Gardzienice’s advocacy of marginal cultures and their choice of a rural base have been inspired by the geographical, ethnic and religious composition of Poland, which has shaped the Polish consciousness as much as has the political history. The company exists in what Staniewski describes as ‘active mutuality’ with their audience, using the people as animate source material and living and operating within a specific rural setting, which this chapter will outline. Such a group which has an intrinsic connection to its folk culture is unlikely to have been founded in a Western European country. As Poland strives to achieve integration with the West it seems unlikely that such a model will appear again. Native rural culture is already submerged in a process of transformation, perhaps akin to that which has taken place in Gardzienice village itself, where the theatre company has for several years been investing money, much of it made from touring and festivals abroad.
