Kozłowski Zbigniew

Bruno Chojak

(b. 1949), actor at the Laboratory Theatre from 1 December 1970 to its dissolution on 31 August 1984. He joined the Laboratory Theatre company as a result of auditions in which around thirty young people participated having responded to Jerzy Grotowski’s ‘Offer of collaboration’ announced in the press in September 1970. Together with the others accepted into the group in 1970/71 (Jerzy Bogajewicz, Wiesław Hoszowski, Aleksander Lidtke, Teresa Nawrot, Irena Rycyk Włodzimierz Staniewski, Jacek Zmysłowski) he worked from autumn 1971 under the leadership of Jerzy Grotowski and Zbigniew Spychalski on the activities that provided the foundation for paratheatre.

Zbigniew Kozłowski then participated in the following artistic activities of the Laboratory Theatre:

30 September – 14 October 1973: participation in the paratheatrical experiment Grotowski Special Project as part of the ‘Complex Research Program’ in Pennsylvania, United States;
20–30 November 1973: participation in the Narrow Special Project led by Grotowski (as part of the ‘Complex Research Program’) in Sainte-Suzanne (Mayenne department) in northern France;
3 May – 5 June 1974: collaboration on Grotowski’s Narrow Special Project (as part of the ‘Complex Research Program’) near Armidale, Australia;
20 November – 4 December 1974: participation in the Special Project led by Ryszard Cieślak in Brzezinka;
February – March 1975: collaboration on Special Project led by Cieślak in Brzezinka;
19 June – 7 July 1975 – collaboration on Special Project as part of The University of Research of the Theatre of Nations (session held in Brzezinka);
20–21 May 1976: collaboration on the Openings project led by Jacek Zmysłowski;
30 May – 20 June 1976: collaboration on two sessions of the Vers un Mont Parallele training exercises led by Jacek Zmysłowski at the Grotowski 76 Training Institute in La Tenaille, France;
27 September 1976 – 29 June 1977: collaboration on Night Vigils, led by Zmysłowski in Wrocław;
16 July –2 August 1977: collaboration on Mountain Project with Jacek Zmysłowski as artistic director, realised at Grodziec castle in Lower Silesia;
15 November 1977: leading (with Jacek Zmysłowski) the first paratheatrical activity, Czuwanie (Vigil) in Wrocław;
2–17 May 1978: leading (with Jacek Zmysłowski) The Vigils at Opatów Palace in Gdańsk-Oliwa;
20 November 1978: leading The Vigils (together with Zmysłowski, Irena Rycyk and Małgorzata Świątek) at Wojewódzki Dom Kultury Zagłębia Siarkowego in Tarnobrzeg (as part of the second Barbórkowa Drama Teatralna; Miners’ Day Theatrical Drama);
4–12 January 1979: participation in the first realisation of the project that would later be known as Tree of People;
28 August – 17 September 1979: participation in two realisations of Tree of People in Mansfield, United Kingdom;
23–26 November 1979: participation in four realisations of The Vigils at the Centro di Ricerca per il Teatro in Milan; one of The Vigils was filmed by the crew of Mercedes and André Gregory, forming the basis of the film The Vigil;
4–7 December 1979: participation in four realisations of The Vigils in Rome;
4–28 January 1980: participation in an eight-person expedition with the Theatre of Sources crew to areas of Mexico inhabited by the native Huichol community;
28 February – 6 March 1981: participation in the first open rehearsals for the collective work Polish Thanatos, led by Ryszard Cieślak;
9 March – 3 May 1981: performances including Polish Thanatos in Palermo (as part of Ludwik Flaszen-led programme La realizzacioni);
5–8 March 1982: training as part of the academic session on Konstantin Stanislavsky at Centro per la Sperimentazione e la Ricerca Teatrale in Pontedera, Italy;
15–28 March 1982: leading seven further events as part of the Vigils cycle at Werkhaus Moosach in Munich, the first following the death of Jacek Zmysłowski (4 February 1982);
30 March – 7 April 1982: leading training in Frankfurt/Main;
3–15 May and 22 May – 4 June 1982: leading two paratheatrical training programmes at Centro Linguaggio e Comportamento in Vicenza;
6–18 June 1982: leading training at Ǻrhus Teater Akademi;
18–30 June 1982: leading training as part of the ‘Confronti teatrali '82’ festival in Cagliari;
29 July – 22 August 1982: leading paratheatrical training at Theaterhaus in West Berlin;
24 November – 8 December 1982: leading training at Teatro Nucleo in Ferrara;
9–31 December 1982: leading training in Pont-à-Mousson near Nancy, as part of collaboration with CUIFERD [Centre Universitaire Intenational de Formation et de Recherche Dramatiques] in Nancy;
February 1983: participation in preparations for the performance Aleph: Impressioni da un Inferno, directed by Ryszard Cieślak at Centro per la Sperimentazione e la Ricerca Teatrale in Pontedera;
1 March – 30 April 1983: leading training in Pontedera;
3 May 1983: premiere of Aleph;
7 May 1983: visiting performance of Aleph in Volterra;
12 May 1983: visiting performance of Aleph in Santarcangelo di Romagnia;
14 May 1983: visiting performance of Aleph in L'Aquila;
16 May 1983: visiting performance of Aleph in Pescara;
20–22 May 1983: visiting performance of Aleph in Bologna;
June 1983: the final visiting performances of Aleph in Milan.

In recognition of his achievements in the field of artistic work, Zbigniew Kozłowski received the Bronze Cross of Merit (Krzyż Zasługi) in 1979.