Teatr, który wychodził na ulice: Przestrzeń miejska w dawnych teatrach szkolnych

Abstract

The article discusses the use of urban space in plays and theatrical and paratheatrical undertakings of school theatres in the Old Poland period (16th to 18th century). The analysed texts include dramas, dialogues, as well as chronicles and occasional accounts of paratheatrical events organized in various cities to celebrate religious and secular holidays. The interpretation focuses on how the cityscape and atmosphere changed during performances staged in cemeteries, streets, or squares. Attention is paid also to the expansion of the visual aspect of the performances and multiplication of means of artistic expression in the urban space (costumes, song and dance, pyrotechnics, the use of symbols, references to emblematic images, props). The article emphasizes the social and culture-making dimension of the participation of school theatres in local and nation-wide events. Leaving the school buildings behind, students got involved in a performative process of creating a theatre of participation; the people in the streets were to become active co-participants in the performance. An important factor in their activation was the theatrical transformation of the familiar urban space.

Keywords

• 16th–18th-century school theater
• early modern paratheatrical events
• occasional literature
• religious processions