For some time now, the subject of political and social engagement has returned to Polish theater. Proof of this can be seen not only in new plays which touch on these subjects, but also in the way that theater is talked and written about. It is hard not to notice two concurrent albeit not necessarily reconsiliable phenomena. On the one hand is a clear need for a theater that strongly touches upon these issues, and on the other hand it is not clear what form such theater should take.

Following 1989, particularly in Poland, the idea of engaging art, which takes up political and social issues, was not very popular. It reminded people of cheap editorializing. It recalled propaganda. The ghost of socialist realism still lingered amongst critics and audiences. Another source of its unpopularity was a very narrow understanding of politics which limited itself to parliamentary quarrels and emotions about the next elections. At the same time calls were made to deal with the here and now along seen through the context of politics and carrying it over onto stage. Even if the situation has changed today, the problem has not gone away. The problem is that it is still not very apparent what model of engaged theater we need. Some would like to see Poland take up the methods of Frank Castorf and take advantage of the traditions of other countries. Others would like theater to not only criticize existing reality but also suggest positive alternatives to it. It seems that we