Przestrzeń teatralna jako palimpsest : kilka odsłon

Abstract

The conceptual potential of the category of palimpsest to study theatrical practices, signalled in reference to the relation between the text of the performance and the dramatic text, is used in the article to present theatrical activities undertaken by site‑specific theatres in a particular urban space. On the example of the performances delivered in the mine by the Silesian Theatre Scena Propozycji at the “Pro Futuro” Association in Zabrze, the relations between the urban space and the mine, which occupies an important place in this space as a permanent element of the Silesian landscape, the basic component of the imaginary scheme related to the Silesian space and culture, are shown. The founders of the theatre, applying various strategies, not only revitalised the place, offering the now closed mine a second life, but above all, using the palimpsest and the palimpsest nature of the mine, tried to make it a “foundation for the identity” of the Silesians again. The aura of the place itself, sensationally perceived, as well as the artistic activities of the group, which elevated this place into the aesthetic dimension, became an impulse for the audience to restitute traces of life, a carrier of long‑forgotten meanings and local stories. They encouraged the viewers to reflect critically on the identity of Silesia, as imagined and as experienced.