President Aleksander Kwaśniewski declared National Mourning until the Pope's funeral and ordered to lower flags to half-mast. Nobody had to tell the directors of theatres to call off the performances.

Most of theatres in Poland cancelled the performances already on Friday and Saturday when the pope's condition was descibed as "very serious". In the Wybrzeże Theatre in Gdańsk, actors, instead of playing a performance, read exerpts of the pope's preaches, encyclics and poems. According to Maciej Nowak, the director of the theatre, the concentration and the thrill of emotion among both actors and spectators, were remarkable. After the tragic news was announced, theatre and cinema performances, as well as concerts and sports events during the days of the National Morning have been cancelled. Premieres and anniversary celebrations have been delayed.