The Provisorium Theatre made its debut in 1976 with a play “In the Middle of the Road” based on Witold Gombrowicz’s novel Ferdydurke. It is one of the best known Polish alternative theatres which during twenty years of it’s artistic activity enriched the history of the Polish counter-culture with important artistic expressions. Its most significant performances are: Our Sunday (1978), It’s Not For Us To Fly To the Islands of Happiness (1979), The Heritage (1985), The Gardens (1990) or From Heaven, Through the World to Hell (1992). The latter performances was awarded Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival in 1992.
Kompania “Teatr” was established in September 1995 by three graduates of Puppetry from the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy in Warsaw. They left the Lublin’s Theatre of the Puppet and Actor Teatr Lalki i Aktora) bored with the conservative form of contemporary theatre, and decided to begin an independent artistic career.
In May 1996, The Provisorium Theatre and Kompania Teatr began to co-operate and the first effect of this co-operation was the play The End of The Century, and the next one is Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz.
Włodzimierz Bolecki wrote that Ferdydurke is a novel picked out of the stream of the historic time. The authors of the performance were especially interested in the language level of this modern – though written half a century ago – novel. They noticed that Gombrowicz declaring war on the world of devaluated forms decided to describe low forms of existence, presenting the world as one universal duel like the duel of Syfon and Miętus or professors and students.