Independent theaters

«Setting the stage

Although they are increasing in number, private venues like Teatr Kamienica struggle for revenue

A growing number of private theaters are appearing in Poland, but the price of maintaining a stage is considerable Warsaw's theater scene is no Broadway or West End. The theaters are generally small, under patronized and scattered throughout the city.

Yet the theater industry has been undergoing a renaissance of sorts over the last few years, with new, private theaters being established by luminaries of the stage and screen. The most recent private venue to open is Teatr 6. Piętro, an initiative by actor Michał Żebrowski, famous for his roles in "Pan Tadeusz," "Wiedźmin" and "Horton Hears a Who" (dubbing). His theater will hołd its inaugural premierę in March.

This trend of new private theaters arguably began with actress Krystyna Janda's Teatr Polonia, a stage specializing in drama, which opened in 2006. Polonia, now a permanent fixture in Warsaw's theater scene, proved such a success among theatergoers that the actress, or rather the foundation she established for the purpose, opened another theater -"Och-Teatr" - this January. Three other actors have opened their own theaters recently and a fourth venue is currently in the works.

Not play money

Running a theater, even a suc-cessful one, is a cost intensive enterprise. The total costs incurred by Teatr Polonia last year amounted to around zł.8 million; revenues, meanwhile, were at approximately the same level.

"We perform two or three times a day. In 2009, we performed 700 times for a total of 195,000 theatergoers," explained Roman Osadnik, the theater's director. "Revenues from ticket sales constituted around 80 percent of all our revenues in 2009," he continued, adding that ticket revenues more or less cover the costs of each day's performances, including remuneration for actors and service staff, as well as royalties.

Private theaters in Poland are generally unable to support themselves on ticket sales alone, however. The tickets are relatively cheap and theaters are smali - Polonia's larger stage seats 266, while its smaller stage accommodates 150.

"Finding financing for new productions is a problem"

Mr Żebrowski's theater, located in the Palace of Culture and Science, has 500 seats...

"Finding financing for new productions is a problem," said Emilian Kamiński, founder and director of Teatr Kamienica, which finally opened last

March after seven years of struggle. In his case, preparing a premierę for the theater's bigger stage costs at least zł. 100,000, versus zł.60,000-70,000 for the smaller stage. The cheapest premiere at Polonia so far has cost zł.70,000, while the most expensive one, "Bagdad Cafe," ran zł.350,000.

Public-private gap

Private theaters can apply for funding from the EU, the Ministry of Culture and the local authorities. But the gap between public and private is huge - approximately 70-80 percent of public theaters' costs are covered by subsidies from the state and local governments. For example, according to a Ministry of Culture report, in 2008 Warsaw City Hall spread zł.2 million across 12 independent theaters and zł.91 million among 19 public theaters. Subsidies are granted on an

Teatr Polonia's opening in 2006 arguably started a trend of irwestment in new private theaters annual or triennial basis and the city prefers foundations as partners.

"Some theaters can survive thanks to those grants and do not need to have audiences," said Marcin Kwaśny, an actor currently working to open a theatrical venue called Teatr Praski. Renovation of the building was to begin this spring, but has been postponed due to bureaucratic hurdles.

To compensate, independent theaters look for other sources of revenue. Teatr Kamienica, for example, hires out its facilities for corporate training; companies can also arrange private performances.

"Every day we struggle for survival," said Mr Kamiński. "The other sources of revenue help us finance our projects. I've worked too hard for this to be satisfied with plays prepared ąuickly," he said.

Private sponsors welcomed

According to private theater owners, having a famous owner does not necessarily attract sponsors. "It is very difficult to find sponsors. Even a famous name like Ms Janda's does not mean that we get all the help we need," said Roman Osadnik. "If one per-cent of our applications to sponsors are answered, I consider it a success."

"We need a generał sponsor, because otherwise it is difficult to maintain a sophisticated repertoire," said Mr Kamiński. "If there were a tax write-off for sponsoring [cul-tural venues], there would be morę companies willing to do so," he said.

Some companies do appreciate the prestige that comes from theater sponsorship. For instance, insurance giant AXA is the strategie sponsor of Teatr Polonia. "We are associated with a theater of the highest quality and we offer financial products of the highest ąuality," said Beata Wójcik, the company spokesperson. "The prestige that we build this way is hard to overestimate." Another important sponsor for Polonia is Radio ZET, which gives the theater on-air advertising.

Energy-sector firm SPEC sponsors Teatr Kamienica. "We wanted to stress that we are close to the people," said Monika Mazurkiewicz, a spokesperson for the firm. SPEC is also considering supporting another theater in Warsaw.

Even smali companies can get involved. For example, Teatr Praski is sponsored by the Kipnick Guest House.

"The association between theatrical activity and our guest house is very appropriate for us and we want to cultivate it," Wojciech Różycki, deputy president of Kipnick, explained.

Foreign audiences

Private theaters, eager to attract a broad rangę of theatergoers, are willing to cater to nonPolish speakers. Both Teatr 6. Piętro and Teatr Kamienica can provide translation services.

"One of our plays can be performed in English and there is the possibility of simultaneous interpretation on earphones, but we need to be informed of interest in advance" - said Mr Kamiński.

Teatr Polonia has not introduced amenities for non-Polish speakers yet, but plans to.

Attendance and tickets

According to data from Poland's Central Statistical Office, 11.6 million people attended theaters and "musical institutions" in 2008, up from 9.8 million the year before. Dramatic and puppet theaters held 642 premiers that year, a y/y inerease of 9.3 percent on 2007. The average theatergoer in Poland is a woman under 24 years of age, according to the Ministry of Culture.

Warsaw is indisputably the heart of Poland's theatrical activity - in 2008, the theaters in the capital produced 18.4 percent of all shows in Poland, attracting 21 percent of all theatergoers.

"More and more people are going to the theater. The standard of living has inereased and one might say that people can now afford theater tickets," said Mr Kwaśny. "In my opinion, the greater the consumerism [in the nation], the greater [its] spiritual needs."

Yet despite the apparent upward trend in ticket sales, Eurostat data for 2007 suggests that Poland, together with Portugal and Romania, is the EU country which sees the lowest levels of theater attendance. It seems, then, that the nation's spiritual needs are going unmet. #

Funding the arts

"To be or not to be, that is the question..."

Shakespeare penned that phrase more than 400 years ago. Yet the question is equally valid today with respect to whether public and private theaters will be able to keep their doors open in the future as looming budget cuts threaten both public and private theaters.

Notice I said public and private theaters. Contrary to what many may believe, public funding for the arts in Poland is not limited to publicly owned theaters or other state owned cultural organizations. Public funds are, for the most part, also available to privately owned groups, including theaters.

Public theaters

Public theaters in Poland are tasked with promoting creative expression and Polish culture, both visually and linguistically. Showing a profit is not a primary concern.

Public theaters are, legally speaking, a branch of government, usually at the local level. Funding is obtained from not only ticket sales and private grants, but also from the budget of the local government.

Private theaters

The majority of privately owned theaters, by contrast, are formed as part of a foundation or association, as opposed to a strictly for - profit enterprise. As a foundation or association a private theater is able to obtain public funding earmarked for cultural activities.

Public funding for private theaters is usually granted through a competitive appli-cation process, based upon objective criteria announced by the government agency responsible for awarding such funds. For the most part such awards are limited to no more than zl.l million.

On the surface, private theaters would appear to beat a financial disadvantage to their public counterparts; however, looks can be deceiving. Contrary to a private theater, a public theater is obligated to provide reduced or free-of-charge admission to much of the public.

Other funding

Theaters, whether public or private, often set up related enterprises in order to apply for additional public funds. Additional funding can include financial assistance to an enterprise to provide occupational training, or for instance to help reduce the level of unemployment in a given area. Funding from such additional sources can then be used to help cover a theater's overhead and production costs.

National funds

At the national level, the Ministry of Culture grants funding to promote cultural activities. Funding is available to promote cultural heritage, education, Polish culture abroad and artistic expression. As an example, last year morę than 6,000 funding requests totaling more than zl.l billion were submitted by various cultural organizations just from Lower Silesia. Of this amount the Ministry of Culture awarded just under zł. 194 million to fewer than 100 of the applicants.

EU funds

In addition to local funding, EU funding is also available to support cultural activities, including both private and public theaters. Under the EU's Cultural Program approximately 6 billion in grant money is to be dispersed during 2007- 2013 to promote cultural activities among the member states.

Poland has benefited the most from this program, having been allotted morę than 15 percent of the EU Cultural Program's total budget.»