(Re)constructing Polish others : theatre in search of diversities

While recent waves of political migration are hardly visible in Poland, the ongoing “migration crisis” has had a visible impact on Polish culture and especially theatre, which is actively engaged in current discussions on postmigrant Europe and its precarious identity. Polish theatre is also engaged in rethinking the country’s partly forgotten, partly suppressed national, linguistic, religious, and cultural issues. This article takes a closer look at five Polish performances that premiered in 2015 and 2016. These performances instrumentalize the past in order to examine the current image of the Other in Poland – that is, the Romani, Germans, and Silesians – and to make sense of the social and political problems Poland faces today. The article focuses particularly on the function that recent plays and performances have fulfilled in (re)constructing these Polish Others and their livelihoods, cultures, and dialects.