On the "People’s Theatre" : a glance back

In article the author reflects on the demand made last year by theatre managing director and critic Maciej Nowak, who called for a new ‘popular theatre’ and ‘people’s theatre’ to be established in Poland so that theatre’s vital mission in society can be restored. Taking as her starting point the idea of the ‘people’s theatre’, once devised by Giorgio Strehler and now referenced by Nowak, Ewa Bal makes an attempt to look into how the idea of theatre meant for a broad, democratic audience was being implemented in Italy. She analyzes the examples of Teatro Piccolo di Milano (established in 1947) and various theatre initiatives which emerged on the rising tide of movements contesting the established social and cultural order - a sentiment conveyed by Dario Fo’s engagé theatre.