A Community in Quarantine: The Social Worlds of Alternative Theater During the Pandemic

Katarzyna Kalinowska; Katarzyna Kułakowska; Maria Babicka; Michał Bargielski

doi:10.18778/1733-8069.17.3.03

Authors

Katarzyna Kalinowska Educational Research Institute, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2657-6107
Katarzyna Kułakowska Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3673-4394
Maria Babicka Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Warsaw, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2156-6754
Michał Bargielski https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7448-4923

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8069.17.3.03

Keywords:

sociology of theater, alternative theater, independent theater, social worlds of theater, COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The article describes the functioning of alternative theater community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical framework of analysis is determined by the social worlds theory, allowing us to capture the processual nature of reconstructing the social world of alternative theater in the era of COVID-19. We explore the ways in which independent theater is coping with the threat to its practice, understood as a tool for building a community “here and now,” i.e. its main technology, values, and the primary activity that organizes communication within the social worlds of alternative theater. We take into account changes brought on by the pandemic (the inability to build relationships via direct interaction with audience members/participants) and the constant, everyday experiences of people working in alternative theater (their ability to function in a crisis). Our analysis is based on empirical data collected in the course of socio-anthropological studies into: (1) the working conditions of Polish theater workers during the pandemic, carried out by the Zbigniew Raszewski Theater Institute in Warsaw; and (2) the modus operandi of the Węgajty Theater from the perspective of its participants’ experiences.

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Author Biographies

Katarzyna Kalinowska, Educational Research Institute, Poland

Katarzyna Kalinowska, PhD, sociologist. She works as an assistant professor at the Educational Research Institute in Warsaw. Author of the monograph titled Flirt and Pickup Practices: A Study in the Microsociology of Emotions. Her research interests include the sociology of emotions and love, qualitative research methodology, research ethics, and the anthropology of school and youth. She also researches theater education and theater pedagogy in Poland.

Katarzyna Kułakowska, Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

Katarzyna Kułakowska, PhD, cultural scientist, cultural anthropologist, social researcher. Currently works as an assistant professor at the Institute of Art at the Polish Academy of Sciences, where she studies the working method of the Węgajty Theater on the basis of the experiences of its participants. She has published two monographs: Gender City: The Lover’s Discourse of Maria Peszek (Warsaw 2010) and Jestresses: The Women of Polish Theatrical Counterculture (Warsaw 2017). Her research interests include the specificity of female experience in the Polish theater; gender, body, and sexuality. She is working on expanding Polish theater studies with feminist perspective.

Maria Babicka, Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Warsaw, Poland

Maria Babicka, MA, graduate of sociology and social anthropology, theater pedagogue, PhD student and member of the Department of Culture Research Methods in the Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Warsaw. She works in the Department of Theater Pedagogy at the Zbigniew Raszewski Theater Institute. Her research interests include amateur theater, theater education in Poland, and family educational practices of participating in theater life. She is a member of the Theatre Pedagogues’ Association.

Michał Bargielski

Michał Bargielski, MA, sociologist, independent researcher. Specializes in public policy evaluation research and cultural animation. Currently working on the role of cultural and artistic projects in the development of local societies.

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