At the welcome, the county head said that he was not seeking seasonal applause. After all, he had saved the theatre for the next 100 years, if not longer. “We saved the theatre for you,” he concluded his speech, while representatives of the local press sat beside me, local officials farther back, and at the front the minister, the voivode, representatives of the clergy and a Member of the European Parliament…

But I will tell you, in order, what the gala was like. Cezary Przybylski and Jacek Głomb (the director of the theatre in Legnica) welcomed the arriving guests and invited them to the performance. The director waxed lyrical about the greatness of the county head’s deed. “What my friend Cezary did is extraordinary,” Głomb said. “It has never happened before that a county office built a theatre.

It is true that officials so rarely spend money on high culture, because it brings them no electoral capital. And I understood some of this enthusiasm. But did they really have to gush so much over something that ultimately fell within the County Office’s responsibilities?

The building belonged to the county and was falling into ruin. Money was found for its renovation. Raising the funds was—as was repeatedly emphasized at the gala—very difficult. Ordinary businesspeople do not keep repeating that they earned money through hard work. But officials are different. For them, it was a feat. If renovation was something so extraordinary, then leaving a historic ruin in the heart of the city would presumably have been the norm.

After a short speech and listening to “The Rapture Over Saving the Theatre by a Small and Poor County for the World, Culture and Humanism,” we watched “The Misanthrope.” Words were spoken from the stage that officials apparently did not take to heart.

“Judgment is difficult, because each of us thirsts for praise,” said the main character Alceste, beginning his criticism of a weak poem by an author who was completely unprepared for criticism.

Alceste’s friend warned him against expressing his opinions too plainly. “Alceste, please, just don’t say what you think about courts and offices,” said Philinte. Ah, those plays by Molière that are timeless…

The audience applauded the play warmly and reacted enthusiastically to the witty lines delivered by the actors. During the performance, Dean Jarosiewicz and another priest entered the auditorium late.

In the second part of the theatre opening, all the official guests were welcomed: the minister, deputy minister, MEP, MPs, voivode and many, many others. A terrible promotional video was also shown, made on the simple principle of opposites: a ruined theatre (sad music, photos of ruined details) and a renovated theatre (cheerful music, low-angle shots, mainly of the beautiful ceiling). Added to this were artificial, detergent-commercial-style words of praise from Cezary Przybylski, Dariusz Kwaśniewski, Katarzyna Biegasiewicz (the County Office spokesperson) and Marek Łętowski (the director of MDK), as well as statements by so-called people from the street, who were happy that there would be a theatre in Bolesławiec.

Then the guests gave speeches, offering thanks and congratulations. When Minister Szumilas received a gift (probably artistic ceramics), she replied that the million she had awarded for the theatre renovation had not been her private money. It was a little bureaucratic joke. MEP Protasiewicz confessed that people in Brussels would be proud of Bolesławiec, which is famous for its ceramics, its wonderful Bolesławiec days (here he committed a faux pas and probably meant the Ceramics Festival), and now the Old Theatre.

At the end of the official part, gifts were also presented to the businesspeople who had supported the County Office in the renovation. They received large photographs of the renovated theatre—details and a view of the stage.

The mayor, who had been invited, was not at the gala, but no one paid particular attention to this except Kazimierz Marczewski, whom this absence and the inability to explain it plunged into deep sadness.

For my part, I would add that instead of a gala with all the fireworks, a weekend family picnic organized at the theatre and the Youth Cultural Centre, along with an “open house,” would have been entirely sufficient. Anyone who wished could have entered and looked around the renovated theatre.

At the opening, actors could have appeared as the stars, perhaps from the theatre in Legnica, which will often perform on our stage. There could also have been promotion of a sensible repertoire, including from time to time a performance by a good professional theatre, as well as interesting workshops for children from the county. There could have been Glinoludy and the long-unused mime, who could have demonstrated a few tricks and advertised his cultural cellar. Could it have been like that? It could. The weekend forecast was sunny. It would have been a great celebration for the community.

And if the county head, county councillors or other officials had appeared at the picnic, they would probably have spent a pleasant time with the residents. Instead, there was a huge spectacle, so pompous that it left a bad taste.

(Grażyna Hanaf)