On 21 May we play for 400 pennies
On 21 May at 7.15 pm Powszechny Theatre in Łódź will present William Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure” directed by Paweł Szkotak. It is a part of the “Ticket for pennies” project. Special-priced tickets for 400 pennies (4 zloties) will be available in Powszechny Theatre box-office starting 14 May at 1 pm. One person is allowed to buy two tickets.
On 21 May all Polish public theatres will present their performances in the project “Ticket for pennies” that was introduced last year. A year ago the ticket price was 250 pennies and it referred to the 250th anniversary of public theatre in Poland. This year the price refers to the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.
The idea of the project came from the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute which is also the coordinator of the project. Last year the project was one of the main events connected with the anniversary of public theatre in Poland and it appeared to be a very popular event. The houses of 100 Polish theatres were full – total audience amounted to almost 50,000 spectators and among them were people who came to the theatre very seldom or even never.
– On this very important occasion we wanted to open ourselves to a new audience, to invite people who do not come to the theatre too often, to invite them to this very special place. Many times Polish theatre has proved it is a common space where the most important problems can be openly talked about – said Ms Dorota Buchwald, director of the Theatre Institute. – We had hoped that Public Theatre Day, in this form, will stay with us for a longer time. And we succeeded – she added.
Now the organizers say that on this day it is “Pennies that matter” (this is a motto of the event) and that Polish public theatre – as an idea and as actual places in many Polish maps – could not exist without financial help from the state.
This year the price of the ticket directly refers to the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. That is why his plays will be presented in so many theatres. In the 2nd edition of the project we will also be able to see popular and important spectacles and shows which were famous and which received important awards in competitions and festivals. 90 public theatres joined the project, some of them will give performances on two or more stages.
– We wanted to remind the spectators the way to the theatre, also in a symbolic sense. We also wanted that “the way to the ticket” was the same (or at least similar) to everybody. The tickets go on sale this Saturday and it will be a busy day for the theatres – said Ms Buchwald.
Full list of the theatres which joined the project as well as the titles of the plays which will be presented on 21 May – Public Theatre Day – can be found on the Theatre Institute website – www.instytut-teatralny.pl and on www.dzienteatrupublicznego.pl – both will be open 1 May.
The project “Ticket for 400 pennies” is an all-Poland event which is financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and coordinated by the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute.
