Nowy Teatr, Warszawa

The workshop hall before you now houses Nowy Teatr, a Warsaw theatre at Madalińskiego 10/16. This ground has had an unusually rough route to culture: it began as a clay dig that supplied brickmaking, then became a dumping ground after excavation ceased. In nineteen twenty-seven, a workshop was built beside the old pit to maintain vehicles used in the city’s cleansing service.

The theatre arrived in two thousand eight, initially renting a handful of rooms; it took over the entire complex in two thousand twelve. The protected hall now holds a performance space with seating for four hundred and fifty. Nowy Teatr launched its work with Krzysztof Warlikowski’s “(A)pollonia,” drawing on writings by ancient Greek dramatists and Hanna Krall; its premiere came in May two thousand nine. Concerts, exhibitions, and talks were part of that opening season.