ABSTRACT
Between 1945 and the beginning of the new millennium, Polish scenography underwent significant changes. In simple terms, it evolved from filling the stage with decorative scenery to annexing the entire building for performance, to creating productions in post-industrial spaces. This chapter focuses on three issues: the exploration of stage space, the metaphoric function of props or objects, and the increasing use of multimedia. Socialist realism in Polish theatre is important for understanding the great departure from reality evident among scenographers from the 1960s through 1980s. In 1956 the Polish People's Republic lifted the rigid rules they had imposed earlier, and the avant-garde was granted a place in the discourse. While this was a crucial moment in the development of Polish scenography, within the popular culture of film and television design it was still expected to create an idealized vision. Thus, stage design served propaganda purposes in some capacity for the entire duration of the totalitarian regime in Poland.
