W kopalni i wokół kopalni : przedsięwzięcia teatralne Sceny Propozycji działającej przy zabrzańskim Stowarzyszeniu "Pro Futuro"

Abstract

“Scena Propozycji”, active for several years by the “Pro Futuro” Association in Zabrze (2002—2012), was not very well known by the public at large, but for residents of Zabrze and the surroundingareas, it became the best guide for their land and its history. Their performances,inscribed into a specific space of a defunct mine and its surroundings, were describe withinthe article in the context of local theatre and theatre of local stories. Its creators used variousstrategies to not only revitalize the space to offer the mine a second life of sorts, but most ofall discovered new uses and meanings for it, shaping it again into a “foundation for identity”of Silesians. They created a theatre in a specific and a symbolic place — underground — andthus granted a power of evoking the past to their messages, inviting the viewers to participatein a performance, which revived emotions and images of local history, to some extent “buriedunderground”, now unearthed in front of an audience, with its active participation. While graduallyintroducing into social circulation subjects that are difficult, not discussed, but still directlyabsorbing the attention of local viewers, they consciously included a specific space and qualitiestied to it into the sphere of comprehensive experience, transcending a simple theatrical performance.They used the language of theatre to tell stories of a place and the local community.