Dream of space for the theatre
Jarosław Fret, the director of the Grotowski Institute and one of the originators of the idea to utilise the bakery, is clearly happy: ‘We have fulfilled our dream of having a place in our custody that would promote theatrical life in Wroclaw.’
The City Office has made a contribution to the Piekarnia Performance Art Centre. ‘We have equipped the Grotowski Institute with the amount of 1,637,000 PLN for its own contribution to the European project that cost 4 million PLN altogether. The credit for the rest goes to Archicom,’ says Jerzy Pietraszek.
Theatre in Piekarnia from 25th April
The theatre has a room with a capacity of 330 persons. Jarosław Fret considers dividing the rooms into two or three simultaneous spaces of 200 sq. m. each, e.g., for the purposes of a festival.
The technical equipment that is already available will serve not only the Grotowski Institute, but also Wroclaw.
The planned future initiatives include Masters in Residence based on co-operation with outstanding theatre masters such as Peter Brook, Eugenio Barba or Anatoly Vasilyev. The Zaczyny [Germs] programme is being prepared, and one of the upcoming events is the premiere of Taming of the Shrew by Teatr Polski in the basement.
Other plans include the special edition of Biennale WRO, the Rytuał Festival and Teatr na Faktach [Fact-Based Theatre] – a new initiative of the documentary theatre.
Not only theatre
The theatre is the biggest beneficiary – it will occupy 900 sq. m. Other spaces (500 sq. m.) will belong to the Camera Nara film studio and a visual art studio.
An area of 400 sq. m. will serve as office space for startups. ‘We are thinking of spaces for people who engage in video installations etc. as a kind of co-operation that extends the circle of interest in art,’ explains Kazimierz Środka from Archicom.
Finally, an area of 700 sq. m. will be occupied by around 15 apartments. ‘These will probably be apartments for rent, as they are small spaces good for people such as artists,’ adds the head of Archicom S.A.
