ABSTRACT
Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Brecht and Beckett – four of the great pioneers of twentieth-century theatre practice – all lived through periods of history and historical events which influenced their lives and work, and it is true to say that Russia, Germany and France during the Second World War could all be described as crucibles from which emerged new performance practices and key roles for the theatre and its relation to society. But of all European countries none has had such a chequered and violent history as Poland, which has been described as being on one of the ‘faultlines’ of Europe where, over 200 years and more, the interests of the nearby countries – in particular Germany, Russia and Austria – have often been bloodily played out. In the centre of Europe, surrounded by powerful neighbours, most of whom had imperialist pasts, Poland has had fluctuating borders: it changed from being a huge state in 1634 to a non-state from 1939 to 1945, and finally to a moderate-sized country after 1945. Any examination of its history will find maps of different shapes, names in different languages, countries invaded or invading, and treaties broken or established; indeed, it was probably the most disturbed European nation of the twentieth century.
