Staniewski Włodzimierz
(b. 1950), director and actor. During his degree in Polish Literature at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, he was involved with Teatr STU and participated in its legendary performance Spadanie (Falling; 1970 – inspired by Tadeusz Różewicz’s poem). He caught Grotowski’s eye during one performance in 1971 and Grotowski subsequently invited Staniewski to participate in the work of the closed paratheatrical group. Within a short time, Staniewski became one of Grotowski’s closest associates and in subsequent years led some of his own projects. In 1975, having found himself in conflict with Grotowski, he left and together with a small group of collaborators (including Jadwiga and Tomasz Rodowicz, Henryk Andruszko, Anna Zubrzycka and Mariusz Gołaj) he began to realise his own programme of artistic and cultural activities. In 1977 he founded the Gardzienice Centre for Theatre Practices and is still its leader today. Staniewski has developed a certain philosophy and practice of ecology of action which combines artistic and cultural activity (see the manifesto: Po nowe naturalne środowisko teatru [For a new natural environment of the theatre], 1980). He has initiated and led broadly conceived artistic and research-based projects connected to the construction of a live bond with folk traditions, with the initial focus having been on the Polish-Ukrainian-Belarusian borderland, before moving further afield into European cultures (since the late 1990s the group’s activities have concentrated on ancient Greek culture). In collaboration with the members of Gardzienice, particularly Tomasz Rodowicz and Mariusz Gołaj, Staniewski has created his own particular method of actor training based on musicality and reciprocity. Thanks to this it has been possible to bring about a unique theatrical language which has proved inspiring for many theatre artists and companies. He is the director of all of Gardzienice’s performances: Spektakl wieczorny (An Evening Performance; 1977), Gusła (Sorcery; 1981), Żywot protopopa Awwakuma (Awwakum; 1983), Carmina Burana (1990), Metamorfozy (Metamorphoses; 1997), Elektra (2003), Ifigenia w A. (Iphigenia at A.; 2007). These achievements have guaranteed his place as one of the leading representatives of independent theatre in the world. Together with Alison Hodge he has published the book, Hidden Territories: The Theatre of Gardzienice (2004).
Paul Allain, Gardzienice. Polish Theatre in Trasition, Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam 1997.
Małgorzata Dziewulska: Gospodarstwo „Gardzienice”, „Didaskalia” 1997 nr 22.
Jarosław Fret: Gardzienicki dar języków. Próba opisania aktorstwa, „Odra” 1995 nr 1.
Goście Starego Teatru. Spotkanie jedenaste. Z Włodzimierzem Staniewskim rozmawia Małgorzata Dziewulska. Spisała Maryla Zielińska, „Teatr” 1994 nr 12.
Ireneusz Guszpit: Staniewski – Gardzienice, [w:] tegoż: Sceny z mojego teatru, Wrocław 2003.
Alison Hodge, Włodzimierz Staniewski: Gardzienice i aktor naturalizowany, „Dialog” 2003 nr 5.
Leszek Kolankiewicz: Etnooratorium – świętych obcowanie, „Res Publica” 1987 nr 5.
Leszek Kolankiewicz; Muzyczna struktura mitów, [w:] tegoż: Wielki mały wóz, Gdańsk 2001, s. 113–178.
Tadeusz Kornaś: „Gardzienice”: Włodzimierz Staniewski i Ośrodek Praktyk Teatralnych, Kraków 2004.
„Konteksty. Polska Sztuka Ludowa” 2001, nr 1–4 (specjalny wolumin poświęcony w całości działalności Ośrodka Praktyk Teatralnych „Gardzienice”).
Odczynianie świata. Z Włodzimierzem Staniewskim rozmawia Zbigniew Taranienko, „Konteksty. Polska Sztuka Ludowa” 1991 nr 3/4.
Zbigniew Osiński: „Gardzienice”: praktykowanie humanistyki, [w:] Parateatr II, Ośrodek Teatru Otwartego „Kalambur”, Wrocław 1982.
Włodzimierz Staniewski with Alison Hodge, Hidden Territories. The Theatre of Gardzienice, Routledge, London – New York 2004.
Zbigniew Taranienko: Gardzienice. Praktyki teatralne Włodzimierza Staniewskiego, Lublin 1997.
Teatr obiecany. 30 lat „Gardzienic”. Sympozjum w Szkole Wyższej Psychologii Społecznej, Warszawa 22–23 stycznia 2008, opracowanie i redakcja Wojciech Dudzik i Zbigniew Taranienki, Warszawa 2008.