Toruń – city of theatre

Wilam Horzyca Theatre is the biggest and the finest theatre in Toruń. Since 1991 the dramatic theatre staff has been organizing the KONTAKT International Theatre Festival. Every year Toruń hosts a group of over 100 international observers (theatre makers, critics, students of drama schools, directors of such international festivals as London LIFT, Wiener Festwochen, Theater der Welt held in Germany, Belgian Kunsten Festival des Arts and Edinburgh Festival), journalists accredited to the Festival from such countries as Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Belarus and Lithuania and hundreds of theatre lovers who come to see festival performances. The Wilam Horzyca Theatre gives several premieres every year. The Horzyca permanent company of actors, carefully formed for many years, guarantees top-quality productions. Their performances successfully participate in many national and international festivals. Thanks to its rich repertory and openness, the Horzyca Theatre is a well-known place on the cultural map of Poland.

Baj Pomorski is the only puppet theatre company in this part of Poland. The Actor’s and Puppet Theatre has been active in Toruń since 1945. From the very beginning it mainly focused on young audiences who were and still are given a chance to experience the beauty of the world of fairy tales, fables and legends. The company does not limit themselves to performances for children, however. A very important share of the present repertory is targeted at adolescent and adult audiences. Every year the Baj holds the International Puppet Theatre Festival and co-organises the National Festival of One-Man Theatre Shows. The new building of the Baj Pomorski, which opened in 2006, is considered one of the most interesting theatre buildings in Poland: the design was nominated for the TVP Kultura Award in the category of Culture for Children and Adolescents. Thanks to the thorough overhaul and modernization it underwent recently, the building’s potential for new solutions in theatre making as well as conducting educational activities has improved considerably. The novel technical and electro-acoustic solutions the building offers enable the company to create performances in which state-of-the-art multimedia techniques and innovative stage-set design ideas can be employed. Baj Pomorski company members participate in many projects and social programmes, including those for the disabled.