Theatre
Theatre
Theatre
Theatre
Theatre in Silesia: plays in Katowice, Tychy, Cieszyn and Rybnik, plus dozens of other towns across the region.
Performances in the Silesian Voivodeship are staged by permanent theatres with their own companies and by stages that host visiting companies in cultural centres and concert halls. The theatre calendar lists more than three hundred and sixty events, over a hundred of them in Katowice. The kind of venue changes the character of the evening, so it helps to know where you are going.
Most performances take place in Katowice, which has more than a hundred theatre events in the calendar. Tychy, Częstochowa, Cieszyn and Bielsko-Biała follow, each with a few dozen dates. Sosnowiec, Chorzów, Rybnik and Pszczyna also stage a good number of shows.
The regional capital has its own page, Theatre: Katowice, and Tychy, Częstochowa and Cieszyn have similar ones: Theatre: Tychy, Theatre: Częstochowa and Theatre: Cieszyn. For other towns the theatre calendar appears on the general town pages, for example Bielsko-Biała, Sosnowiec and Chorzów.
Performances also appear in smaller centres: Jaworzno, Żywiec, Gliwice, Ruda Śląska, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Racibórz, Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Zabrze, Bytom, Radzionków and Zawiercie. That puts theatre within reach in almost every part of the voivodeship.
Katowice has small independent theatres as well as the halls of cultural centres and of institutions with a longer history. Examples are Teatr Bez Sceny, Teatr Żelazny, Kinoteatr Rialto, the Pałac Młodzieży with its theatre hall, and Scena Gliwicka 120.
Teatr Bez Sceny is an intimate theatre founded in 1997 and based at ulica Trzeciego Maja 11. Its repertoire is mostly contemporary comedies and dramas, and its productions have been nominated ten times for the Złote Maski awards, winning five. It also holds a Special Golden Mask for its original concept. The calendar lists many of its dates.
Teatr Żelazny (the Iron Theatre) is an independent repertory company run by an association founded in 2011. Its base is in the Załęże district, at Gliwicka 148a, in a former school building. The building has workshop and rehearsal rooms but no auditorium, so performances are given in a temporary hall seating a hundred and thirty-nine. The company stages shows for adults and for children.
Kinoteatr Rialto at ulica Świętego Jana 24 in the city centre has operated since 1913. It is an art-house cinema run by Silesia Film, yet its stage also hosts plays, concerts and meetings. It suits anyone who wants to combine a film and a play in one building.
The calendar also lists the Teatr & Klub muzyczny Old Timers Garage, Scena Gliwicka 120, Katowice Miasto Ogrodów and Dom Kultury Witosa. For the earlier history of theatre in the city, read the article Teatr Śląski w Katowicach: gmach z 1907 roku i powojenny patron.
Tychy has the Teatr Mały, which has its own building but no permanent acting company, and Chorzów has the Teatr Rozrywki, with a company of actors, singers and dancers and an orchestra. The calendar also lists venues in Ruda Śląska, Radzionków, Gliwice and Sosnowiec.
Teatr Mały (the Small Theatre) is at ulica kardynała Hlonda 1. It works as an impresario theatre, meaning that it presents the productions of invited companies instead of its own actors. The building from 1962-1965 was designed by Wacław Jaciów, and the mosaic was made by Janusz Włodarczyk with Franciszek Wyleżuch. It began as a works cultural centre at the Ziemowit mine. Today it is adapted for people with disabilities and has an art gallery and the Andromeda Culture Arcade.
In Tychy the calendar also lists the Fabryka Mistrzów, home of Teatr IMKA Scena Śląska. For the town as a whole, see Tychy.
Teatr Rozrywki is a musical theatre with its own company, based since 1985 in the city centre at Katowicka 62. The building went up before the Second World War as the Graf Reden hotel and later served as a German theatre and a cultural centre. Its history is told in the article Teatr Rozrywki w Chorzowie: od hotelu Graf Reden do polskich prapremier musicali.
Ruda Śląska has the Śląski Teatr Impresaryjny im. Henryka Bisty, and in Radzionków performances take place at the Centrum Kultury Karolinka. In Gliwice the calendar lists the Centrum Edukacyjno-Kongresowe Politechniki Śląskiej. In Sosnowiec you can see a show at the Sala Widowiskowo-Koncertowa MUZA, and in Dąbrowa Górnicza at the Pałac Kultury Zagłębia.
In the south of the region Cieszyn has the most performances, followed by Bielsko-Biała, Rybnik and Pszczyna. Cieszyn is especially worth a look because its theatre is a listed building from 1910, and Rybnik has a building from 1958-1964. In both towns the building alone is a reason to go.
The Adam Mickiewicz Theatre in Cieszyn stands at Plac Teatralny 1 in the Old Town. It was designed by the Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer, who built forty-eight theatres in Europe. The auditorium seats six hundred and thirty, and the building is part of a European network of historic theatres. The idea of building it was put forward in 1902 by the councillor Franz Barth.
Teatr Ziemi Rybnickiej operates at Plac Teatralny im. Kazimierza Kutza 1. Broad steps with a lawn and a water cascade lead up to it from Plac Wolności. The main hall seats six hundred and fifty, and beside it are a chamber hall and the Oblicza gallery. The theatre opened in 1964, and since 2023 the building has been a listed monument.
In Bielsko-Biała performances take place at the Bielskie Centrum Kultury, and the town's fairy-tale tradition is described in the article Bielsko-Biała jako miasto bajek: Bolek i Lolek, Reksio, Banialuka. In Pszczyna the stage is the Pszczyńskie Centrum Kultury, and in Racibórz the Raciborskie Centrum Kultury. Both towns have fewer shows than Cieszyn, but the calendar holds a handful of dates in each, so a trip from the surrounding area can be easier than one to a big city. In Żywiec the calendar lists the Miejskie Centrum Kultury. For the full picture of events, see Pszczyna, Racibórz and Żywiec.
Several stages in the theatre calendar are buildings worth seeing in themselves: the theatre in Cieszyn from 1910, the building in Rybnik listed as a monument in 2023, the Rialto in Katowice from 1913, and the Pałac Kultury Zagłębia from 1951-1958.
Pałac Kultury Zagłębia (the Dąbrowa Basin Palace of Culture) in Dąbrowa Górnicza, at plac Wolności 1, is a socialist-realist building listed in the register of monuments. It contains a theatre hall, a gallery and the KADR cinema for art-house films. A similar background belongs to the Dom Muzyki i Tańca in Zabrze, at de Gaulle'a 17, opened in 1959, with an auditorium for almost two thousand people.
If you want to combine theatre with sightseeing, Cieszyn and Rybnik are the best choices, as both buildings have their own entries. In Katowice a similar role is played by the Rialto, which joins cinema, concerts and theatre.
A theatre with its own company plays its repertoire through the season, while a host stage shows productions of invited companies and usually changes its programme from week to week. The calendar contains both kinds, so check who the performers are before choosing a show.
Teatr Rozrywki in Chorzów and Teatr Żelazny in Katowice, for example, have their own companies. Teatr Mały in Tychy works as an impresario theatre, and the name of the Śląski Teatr Impresaryjny im. Henryka Bisty in Ruda Śląska points to the same model. Cultural centres such as the municipal centres in Jastrzębie-Zdrój and Zawiercie or the Miejski Dom Kultury in Łaziska Górne host outside companies.
In smaller towns theatre usually lives in a cultural centre and plays visiting productions, less often for several evenings in a row. When planning a trip, check the calendar of the particular town instead of expecting a permanent repertoire.
The calendar lists places such as the Młodzieżowy Dom Kultury im. Jaworzniaków in Jaworzno, the Miejskie Centrum Kultury in Żywiec, the Akademickie Centrum Kultury - Klub Politechnik in Częstochowa and the concert hall of the Zespół Szkół Muzycznych in Sosnowiec. In Gliwice and Zabrze theatre is rarer, but it turns up in concert-style halls such as the Dom Muzyki i Tańca.
Yes, although events for the youngest are collected on a separate page, For children. Teatr Żelazny stages shows for children beside its adult programme, and Bielsko-Biała has a strong fairy-tale tradition.
If you are unsure whether a show suits a younger viewer, check the event description and the ticket seller's information. Families also often look at cultural centres in smaller towns, where visiting companies perform.
In the calendar set the day and the town first and only then the theatre category, so the list stays short and readable. The performance card has a ticket button that leads to the seller, where you pay.
If theatre does not fit your plans, look at similar kinds of events: music, cabaret or cinema. The whole theatre scene of the region is on Theatre.
Katowice, where the calendar lists more than a hundred theatre events. Tychy, Częstochowa, Cieszyn and Bielsko-Biała follow.
The Cieszyn theatre named after Mickiewicz, from 1910 and designed by Fellner and Helmer, and Teatr Ziemi Rybnickiej, listed as a monument in 2023. The Rialto in Katowice and the Pałac Kultury Zagłębia are also historic.
No. It is an impresario theatre that presents the productions of invited companies. The building is adapted for people with disabilities.
To Teatr Bez Sceny at ulica Trzeciego Maja 11, active since 1997, or to Teatr Żelazny in Załęże. Both stages have dates in the calendar.
Go to the performance card and click the ticket link. You move on to the seller, who handles the payment and sends the confirmation.
