At the author’s meeting, held on 15 February in the Museum of Ceramics building on Kutuzowa Street, Katarzyna Maczel spoke about the circumstances surrounding the creation of her thesis, including the problems involved in translating German-language periodicals. As she wrote in the introduction to her publication: “I had to learn to read the specific Gothic typeface used in old newspapers, which was a real challenge for me”.
During the meeting, Katarzyna Maczel said that master’s theses are theoretically written so that they can later gather dust. However, such a fate is unlikely to befall her work, “Theatrical Life in Bolesławiec”. The author was awarded the second prize for her text in the Bolesławiec mayor’s competition for the best master’s or doctoral thesis on the history and present-day life of our city. The jury members decided that the work deserved to be popularised and was best suited for publication. The book was financed from the city budget.
“I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my work. It was made with heart,” said Katarzyna Maczel. “It is a great feeling to pick up a book and see your own name. All that hard work – for three years I sat and thought: why am I doing this? Why am I so ambitious? It is a great satisfaction,” added the author of “Theatrical Life in Bolesławiec”.
“Ms Maczel’s work on theatrical life in Bolesławiec is an excellent continuation of last year’s work by Kinga Pacek on musical life in our city. It is creative and beautifully written in Polish,” Jerzy Zieliński, the city secretary and also a juror in the first edition of the Bolesławiec mayor’s competition, told Boleslawiec.org.
According to Jerzy Zieliński, the city’s residents can learn from this work how cultural life unfolded in Bolesławiec over the centuries. “This is a good perspective from which to assess the extent to which this cultural life meets the needs of Bolesławiec residents today. Let us hope that theatre in Bolesławiec becomes a permanent part of the cultural offering,” the secretary noted.
The meeting also addressed the fact that, in the opinion of many, Bolesławiec’s current cultural offering is rather limited. Katarzyna Maczel said that the authorities of the Kraków PWST’s branch department of puppetry want to help restore the former glory of Bolesławiec’s Old Theatre. The university is even prepared to stage diploma productions in our city. The marshal’s office is also expected to support the rebuilding of the facility. In the author’s view, Bolesławiec is large enough to have its own theatre.
(MZ/GA information)