The Reading Stage

These are presentations of the latest drama plays in a reading form by professional actors. Children's Art Centre was initiated them by inviting teenagers from Poznań junior high schools and high schools to take part in meetings with authors and their work about topical and important issues for young people: growing up, violence, family problems, hatred, intolerance and many others. For authors, it is a major test confronting the audience with the contents and form of their works. It is a good lesson about what and how to write. Every year, we organize 3-4 editions of the Reading Stage. They are accompanied by conversations with journalists, theatre directors and experts in other areas, for example Piotr Łazarkiewicz, Dorota Latour, Ewa Obrębowska, Alicja Morawska-Rubczak. This dialogue is extremely lively, with young people analysing meanings with commitment and depth. Authors whose plays have been read include Krystyna Chołoniewska, Elżbieta Jodko-Kula, Inka Dowlasz, Marta Guśniowska, Malina Prześluga, Piotr Bulak, Robert Jarosz, but also playwrights from abroad: Lutz Hubner and Wajdi Mouawad. The majority of the presentations were prepared by Maria Rybarczyk and Waldemar Szczepaniak from Teatr Nowy in Poznań, but the actors of Teatr Animacji and Teatr Polski also took part. The Reading Stage has also been an important element of playwriting workshops in Zaniemyśl, where the latest texts were presented publicly for the first time, officially staring their stage life. In 2010, the Reading Stage travelled to Gdynia after it was invited to RAPORT Festival and in 2011 it was a guest at the little Warsaw Theatre Meetings. Since 2005, we have been present at Opole Puppet Theatre Festival. The project has been coordinated since its inception by Zbigniew Rudziński and Wojciech Nowak. In 2011, Barbara Małecka joined the team.