The Polish Theatre in Toronto, exactly – the George Pilitowski Salon of Poetry, Music and Theatre of the Polish-Canadian Music Society was founded by Maria Nowotarska and Jerzy Pilitowski in 1990. Thanks to the commitment and effort of the Founders, the Theatre from year to year consolidated its position in artistic world. After more than 20 years, it is now the only Polish-emigrant theater in the world, which annually offers several premieres. The performances of Polish Theater are played not only in Toronto and Canada, but also in the United States and all Europe.
Currently, the Polish Theatre in Toronto consists of three outstanding personalities:
Kazimierz Braun
Professor Kazimierz Braun is a director, writer and a scientist. He studied Polish language and literature at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, where he obtained his doctorate, and later – his postdoctoral degree at the University of Wrocław in Poland. He studied theatre direction at the University Theatre School in Warsaw, Poland. He holds the title of professor in Poland as well in the United States, where he presently teaches at the New York State University in Buffalo.
Professor Braun was a director of the J. Osterwa Thetre in Lublin and the Contemporary Theatre in Wrocław, Poland. There, he directed a sensational production of “The Plague” based on the novel by A. Camus (1983), in which he alluded to martial law imposed on Poland at that time. For this, he lost his job and was forced to emigrate.
Presently he directs plays and lectures in the Unites States and other countries, including Poland. He is the author of over forty books, papers, as well as novels which were published in Polish, English and Czech languages. He also wrote several plays, staged in Poland, The United States, Canada, Ireland, and Russia. For Maria Nowotarska and Agata Pilitowska he has written a series of plays, featuring great women who emigrated from Poland: “Helena – Play About Helena Modjeska”, “American Dreams”, “Tamara L.”, ” Radiation”, “Tales of Pola Negri”, and “Ordonka’ Secrets”. These plays were performed in Polish, with simultaneously projected translations to other languages in many countries.
Professor Kazimierz Braun received many prestigious artistic and literary prizes and awards: Guggenheim, Fulbright, Turzański Foundation, and from a Foundation in Japan. He also received the Polish Cross of Merit and the Polish “Gloria Artis” medal.
Maria Nowotarska
Maria Nowotarska graduated from the Cracow University Theatre School and for thirty three years was a staff actress at the J. Słowacki Theatre in Cracow, Poland. During her career there, she played many significant roles under the direction of several outstanding directors, both in comedy and drama. She played in a number of Polish films “Nad Niemnem” (On the River Niemen), “Między ustami, a brzegiem pucharu” (Between lips and the rim of the cup), “Kolory Kochania” (Clours of love) and in many TV productions.
She came to Canada in 1990 and singlehandedly created Polish theatrical life in Toronto. She is the artistic director, stage director, as well as actress of the “Salon of Poetry, Music and Theatre” Polish Theatre. The Salon’s productions included an array of the best Polish poets, from Kochanowski to Szymborska and Twardowski.
Ms. Nowotarska created the Actors’ Studio which is associated with the Salon and which introduces young people of Polish origin to work on stage. Ms. Nowotarska’s Salon was honoured with the Medal of Polish Senate, and the “Cracow 2000” medal. She herself was awarded the Prize of The Adam Mickiewicz Foundation in Canada, and from the Turzański Foundation. She was also accorded the title “Woman of the Year” (1995) and received the Golden Medal of the Canadian Polish Congress. She was awarded the “Cross of Merit” by the President of the Polish Republic, the title “Distinguished Advocate of Polish Culture”, and the “Gloria Artis” medal by the Polish Minister of Culture. She was awarded a Gold Medal by the American Polish Institute in Miami, Florida and the “Golden Owls” statuette in Vienna, Austria.
Agata Pilitowska
Graduated from the Cracow University Theatre School in Cracow, Poland and came to Canada in 1986. Agata Pilitowska lives in Toronto. She played many English speaking roles in local theatres. From 1992 she is associated with the Salon of Poetry, Music, and Theatre, where she played in more than 100 productions, most notably in the series of dramas, written and directed especially for her and for Maria Nowotarska by Kazimierz Braun. Agata played Tamara Lempicka, famous painter, Pola Negri , Ewa Curie , Maria Sklodowska’s Curie daughter , Hanka Ordonowna.
Her evening of poetry, “Szymborska Nobel 96”, was performed in Polish and English, among other places at the Concordia University in Montreal, Georgetown University in Washington D.C., and as part of the International Writers’ Festival in Ottawa.
Since 1999 she has been a presenter and journalist for OMNI TV, where she hosted a weekly programme “Z Ukosa” (Side glance). For OMNI TV she dubbed thirty three hours of TV programme “Canada, the Peoples’ History” and twenty programmes “Ecce Homo”. She was also narrator and host of Polish language version of the series “Science Show”.
Agata Pilitowska was awarded the title “Distinguished Advocate of Polish Culture” (2004), the medal “Gloria Artis” medal (2006), and the statue “Golden Owls” statuette (2011) for her achievements in acting and theatre in Vienna Austria, on October 21, 2012 in London she will be awarded “The Golden Leaf” for her stage achievements.
More information: The Polish Theatre in Toronto
Photo: Maria Nowotarska and Agata Pilitowska in “Tamara L.” © The Polish Theatre in Toronto