Akademia Teatralna im. Aleksandra Zelwerowicza
w Warszawie

address: ul. Miodowa 22/24
00-246 Warsaw, Poland
phone: + 48 22 831 02 16-18
fax: + 48 22 831 91 01
e-mail: rektorat@at.edu.pl
internet: www.at.edu.pl

The Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy

History
The oldest and the largest theatre school in Poland; the only which provides students with both practical and theoretical education. It was established in 1932 as State Institute of Theatrical Arts (PIST). Its first headmaster and dean of the Acting Department was Aleksander Zelwerowicz. In 1996 according to the bill of the Polish Parliament the official name was changed into the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy. Students from different years and departments are given the opportunity to lead and accomplish common practices and artistic projects. The curriculum on every department udergoes permanent modofications in order to provide its graduates with the knowlegde and skills needed in variable world of theatre and the new media.

The Acting Department
To become a student of the Acting Department one needs a secondary education certificate and go through the entrance exam. The MA studies last nine semesters. The syllabus comprises classes in acting, instructions in articulation, musical classes, physical excercises, and theoretical subjects: history of literature, drama and theatre, music and fine arts; furthermore - courses dealing with the theory of literature. Graduate students have to play parts in two spectacles and write Master's thesis on history and theory of theatre. Each year about twenty graduates leave the department.

The Directing Department
This oldest department at the Academy accepts graduates of Arts Faculties and professional actors. The MA studies last five years and have individual character, and include work on text, propadeutics and practical staging classes, acting technics and work with actors as well as set designing, choreography and stagecraft. Each year there are five graduates of this department.

The Theatre Studies Department
The Department of Theatre Studies prepares for the profession of a historian, a theatre critic and a literary manager of a theatre. The BA studies last three years and the MA studies last two years. Currently studies take into consideration the fact that more and more graduates become managers, PR and media specialists, theatre producers and culture animators. Students have now an opportunity to attend law, public relations and marketing classes. Each year some twenty students graduate. Apart from intramural studies there are also extramural studies offered by the department.

The Department of Puppetry Art
The Department of Puppetry Art was set up in 1975 as the Białystok branch of the Academy. It offers: MA in puppet-theatre acting and MA in puppet-theatre directing. To complete the studies students have to take part in two spectacles or produce one final exam show. Fifteen graduates of acting and two or three of directing graduate yearly.

International cooperation
As for the international activity, first of all, the school organizes the International Theatre Schools Festival (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007) and the International Festival of Puppetry Theatre Schools (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008). Around 15 schools, not only from Europe, but also from all over the world (Israel, Japan, China, Mexico, Australia, the US) participated in each of those. The Academy takes part in several exchange programs: bilateral ones (Polish - Japanese Drama Academy, cooperation with St. Petersburg Academy) and multilateral ones (Teatro Figura Europa Cultura 2000), as well as the researching progammes (Inter}Artes). The school's teachers and students participate in all important theatre festivals (among others Istropolitana Project in Bratislava, Festival Setkání/Encounter in Brno, "Singing Mask" in Saint Petersburg). The Academy is a member of the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA). It also participates in student exchange program Erasmus.

Fields of study in Polish

Facts & figures

Famous alumni

Remarkable lecturers

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