Ateneum Theatre
| Teatr Ateneum w Warszawie | |
Entrance to Ateneum Theatre
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| Address | ul. Jaracza 2 street Warsaw Poland |
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| Coordinates | 52°14′12″N 21°01′55″E / 52.23680°N 21.03202°E |
| Owner | PKP |
| Type | Dramatic theatre |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Reopened | 1951 |
| Website | |
| www |
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The Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw (Polish: Teatr Ateneum im. Stefana Jaracza w Warszawie) is a Polish dramatic theatre founded in 1928. It resides in a building erected a year earlier in the interwar Poland as headquarters for the Professional Union of PKP Railway Workers with offices upstairs. After World War II, the severely damaged structure was restored to its former glory with public funds. The state-run theatre reopened in 1951; named after its first and already famous prewar director Stefan Jaracz.
The Ateneum Theatre began as an experimental stage with strong socio-political profile, under an Avant-garde-inspired name The Outpost of Spoken Word (Placówka Żywego Słowa). Its artistic manifesto was influenced by the mainly proletarian Warsaw neighbourhood of Powiśle in which it was established.
Two years into its existence, the artistic direction of Ateneum was taken over by popular actor Stefan Jaracz (1930). He worked there until the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland, sharing his responsibilities with Leon Schiller in 1932–33 season, and with Karol Adwentowicz (1934). Together, they raised the theatre's reputation as one of the leading voices for Poland's new intelligentsia. The groundbreaking performances included The Street Scene by Elmer Rice (1930), Danton's Death by Georg Büchner (1931), Senat Szaleńców by Holocaust victim Janusz Korczak (1931), the Tsar Lénine by François Porché (1932), and in the vein of political Zeittheater of the time, The Captain of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayer (1932) and Roar China! by Sergei Tretyakov (1933); not to mention the popular Ladies and Husars (Damy i Huzary) by Aleksander Fredro (1932) and The Open House by Michał Bałucki.
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