Teatr 38 (Theatre 38) - an experimental, dramatic theatre founded in 1957 by Waldyuyemar Krygier. Located on the Cracow Market Square 8, it started to operate with the premiere of "All against all" by Artur Adamov.
The theatre premiered with plays of such contemporary European dramatists like: Samuel Beckett, Artur Adamow, Jean Genet and with experimental staging of some romantic poems "Nie-Boska komedia" (The Not-Divine Comedy) by Zygmunt Krasiński, "Samuel Zborowski" by Juliusz Słowacki.
It achieved its greatest success in 1959-1968 under the management of Andrzej Skupień. The cooperation with director and dramatist Helmut Kajzar was then created. Kajzer's original and controversial stages of classic writings, which are linked to the "theatre of the cruel" of Antonin Artaud like: "Król Edyp" (Oedipus the King) by Sophocles, "Sędziowie" (Judges) by Stanisław Wyspiański, and "Ryszard III" (King Richard III) by William Shakespeare, were important events.
In Teatr 38 the following directors were active: M. Święcicki (he directed the parody of "Stara Baśń" (Old Legend) by Aleksander Bandrowski on the basis of a story by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, and J. Güntner who did "Szalona lokomotywa" (Crazy Locomotive) by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz.
In 1974 Teatr 38 ceased to operate. It was reactivated in 1979 by Piotr Szczerski with the show "Beckett". He also directed the premiere of "Proces" (The Trial) by Franz Kafka.
Then, during the period of martial law Teatr 38 was closed down once again. Later Teatr 38 was reopened under the aegis of the Jagiellonian University. Here the following events took place: different shows performed by students (inter alia: "Peer Gynt" by Henryk Ibsen, directed by R. Pawłowski). In 1998 on account of the property owner's decision the team of Teatr 38 ceased to exist. The decision was put into effect even through the strong protest of academic society.
In 2001 Instytut Sztuki (The Art Institute) took over Klub Pod Jaszczurami (Under the Lizards Club), and made the decision to reopen Teatr 38. Adam Kwaśny - the manager of Teatr Bücklein - took the position of Art Director and held it till 2004. Nowadays program of Theatre 38 is prepared by Maria Iljuczonek's troop.
In the renovated rooms of Teatr 38 - once famous for innovatory, original artistic events - we plan to restore the atmosphere of creative discussions. We hope that plays prepared by Instytut Sztuki (The Art Institute) will contribute to make the Teatr 38 an important place for the audience and the whole artistic society.
During the 2001-2002 season there were three premieres: "Dzieci Słońca" (Children of Sun) by Maxim Gorki, directed by Rafał Sokołowski (premiere January 25, 2002), "Cantigas de Santa Maria" directed by Adam Kwaśny with Maciej Maleńczuk playing the chief part (the premiere took place on March 14, 2002 in Teatr Kameralny in Wrocław under 23-rd Review of Stage Songs) and the opening night in Cracow took place on April 5, 2002, and "Drzewo Tropików" (The Tree of the Tropics) by Mishima Yukio directed by Katarzyna Warnke (the first public performance of the play took place on November 24, 2002).
