On 22nd of August 1941, in a private apartment at 7 Komorowskiego Street in Kraków, a secret meeting of the theatre's underground team took place. Its members were: Krystyna Dębowska (later Ostaszewska) – then a student at the Higher School of Commerce, Polish philologists: Halina Królikiewicz (Kwiatkowska), Danuta Michałowska, Karol Wojtyła and Mieczysław Kotlarczyk. The closest friends were also: Tadeusz Kwiatkowski and the sculptor – Tadeusz Ostaszewski (future husbands of two "rhapsodic" actresses). M. Kotlarczyk announced the establishment of the theatre and created its theoretical and ideological foundations. He was not only the director and director, but also an actor.
Komorowskiego 7 in Kraków, the Laszczków tenement house. The Rhapsodic Theatre was established in this house, as the plaque at the entrance informs, photo: Wikipedia
The first performance – Król-Duch by J. Słowacki was performed on 1 November of the same year. The theatre took the name Teatr Rhapsodyczny from the rhapsodies of Król-Duch.
By March 1943, six premieres had been performed: Beniowski, Hymny, Godzina Wyspiańskiego, Pan Tadeusza, Portret Artysta, Samuela Zborowski by J. Słowacki. The theatre performed in private apartments for specially invited audiences, including Juliusz Osterwa, Jerzy Turowicz, Juliusz Kydryński and others.
The theatre resumed its activity on 22nd of April 1945 as an amateur group in the hall of the cinema “Wolność” at ul. 18 Stycznia 2 (currently ul. Królewska). The director, artistic and literary director and director was Mieczysław Kotlarczyk, the set designer – Tadeusz Ostaszewski. The acting team included: Barbara Horawianka (1951–1957), Halina Królikiewicz (Kwiatkowska), Danuta Michałowska, Krystyna Ostaszewska, Karol Wojtyła (1941–1942), Mieczysław Voit (1948–1955), Mieczysław Kotlarczyk, Maciej Maciejewski, Antoni Żuliński.
The theatre was recognized as a school theatre (obligatory for young people) and on 18th of March 1946 it received professional qualifications. From September 1946 the theatre performed in a hall shared with the Groteska Theatre at ul. Skarbowa 2, then in a specially adapted building at ul. Warszawska 5, and from 1951 in the building at ul. Bohaterów Stalingradu (Starowiślna) 21 (currently the Chamber Theatre). In the years 1946–1953 the Drama Studio operated at the theatre under the management of T. Kudliński. The Studio's lecturers included: actress and director Danuta Michałowska, director Władysław Józef Dobrowolski, opera singer Józef Gaczyński, conductor and director Kazimierz Meyerhold. The years 1947–1951 were a period of the theatre's most outstanding achievements. The Rhapsodic Theatre also gave guest performances (in the 1946/47 season, out of a total of 118 performances – 47 took place in the field). After nationalization (1949), the theatre participated in the Festival of Russian and Soviet Arts and in the central celebrations of the Mickiewicz Year. M. Kotlarczyk – wanting to create a "socialist Reduta" – staged Rozkaz based on the poetry of S. Kirsanov and V. Mayakovsky, and also established "rhapsodic brigades" that toured southern Poland with poetic montages. Political training in the theatre was led by Adam Polewka. As a result of political provocation, on 28th of February 1953, the Rhapsodic Theatre was liquidated, and the Poetry Theatre was established in its place. The Rhapsodic Theatre resumed its activity on 16th of November 1957 with a programmed staging by Król-Duch entitled Legendy złotych i błękitne as the Municipal Rhapsodic Theatre. In addition to M. Kotlarczyk, the directors were: D. Michałowska, T. Malak, R. Machowski, D. Jodłowska and Ł. Karelus-Malska. Kotlarczyk collaborated with outstanding stage designers (M. Kołodziej, M. Garlicki, Z. Strzelecki) and composers (L. Kaszycki, A. Kurylewicz, Z. Konieczny).
In 1961, the theatre received the Pietrzak PAX team award. In 1965, the theatre team participated in the Warsaw Theatre Meetings (Polonez Bogusławskiego). The next productions: Dziady (Forefathers' Eve, 1966) and Akropolis (Acropolis, 1966) were received critically. The theatre was permanently closed on 5th of May 1967.
source – Wikipedia
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