Wacław Sobaszek

He was born in Ożarów near Opatów. He attended schools in Bytom, Werbkowice near Hrubieszów, Opole Lubelskie and Sokołów Podlaski (secondary school final examinations [Matura]). He studied art history at the University of Warsaw, where he defended his master's thesis ("9 listów o malarstwie krajobrazowym Carla Gustawa Carusa") under the supervision of Professor Jan Białostocki. During his studies he participated in the paratheatrical activities of the Laboratory Theatre, in the Special Project in Brzezinka (1975) and in the same year in the Open University of Exploration in Wrocław. In 1976, while collecting materials for his master thesis in Berlin, he met the family of Erdmute Henkys. Erdmute has been his life partner since 1977. In the same year, together with Krzysztof Gedroyć, Ewa Kusiorska, Krzysztof Łepkowski and Ryszard Michalski, he founded the Interdisciplinary Creativity and Research Centre Pracownia "Workshop". It operated as part of the Pojezierze Socio-Cultural Association and was discontinued after martial law was imposed. There, he co-created such activities as: "The Mill", ran, for example: "Exercises", "Readings", "Seeing More", Improvisations ("29 October 1979, 06.15 pm") and lectures within the Open Culture Study ("Tatlin’s Constructivism – the problem of the social status of artistic activities"). In 1980, together with Krzysztof Gedroyć, Ryszard Michalski and Erdmute Sobaszek, he founded the Pracownia's theatre group, the Wehikuł Theatre, which prepared and presented the following performances in various places in northeastern Poland: a street performance titled "Journeys to Many Distant Countries of the World" (1980) and the indoor performance "Jumping Mouse" (1981). In April 1982, he discovered an abandoned farm in the Warmian region of Węgajty (18 Węgajty colony) as a place for the theatre. A month later, together with members of the "Pracownia", he began adaptation work. In the Theatre Centre "Pracownia" created in Węgajty, he conducted workshops, artistic explorations – "The Way of Theatre" and together with Ryszard Michalski "The Vacuum Project". The activities of the Theatre Centre "Laboratory" were presented in Węgajty, Olsztyn and the surrounding area, as well as in the Netherlands (1984).

In close collaboration with his wife Erdmute Sobaszek, he prepared performances in Węgajty with successively emerging groups: the Węgajty Village Theatre (1986) founded together with Małgorzata Dżygadło-Niklaus and Wolf Niklaus, the Wegajty Theatre/Field Project (1996) and the Other Theatre School (since 2010). He has directed the following performances: "The Vincenz Stories" (1988), "The Inn Towards Eternal Peace" (1992), "The Canterbury Tales" (1996), "Kalevala - Unwritten Fragments" (2000), "The Ghostly Shroud" (2001), "Sonship" (2004) and "Mice exist" (2006) - a "remake" of the Pracownia’s play. Creator of staged performances: "Water 2030" (2010), "Earth B" (2011), "Fire, crisis, central station". (2012), "Air e(x)missions" (2013), "Polyphony" (2014), "Less!" (2015), "Towards Zero" (2016), "Vigilance" (2017), "Solstices" (2018), "Carefree" (2019), "Hiatus" (2020). Under the name of Teatr Potrzebny he creates performances with the participation of the residents of the Social Welfare Home in Jonkowo. The performances he has directed: "The Wedding - Public Domain" (2009), "Iwona poślubiona" (2010), "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" (2011), "The Street of Crocodiles" (2014), "Ubu the King or the Poles" (2016), "Iwona poślubiona. 2" (2019) have been presented many times in Jonkowo, in Węgjty and in Olsztyn (in the 1st High School, on the stage of the S. Jaracz Theatre and in the Municipal Cultural Centre). He has been organising carol singing tours since 1988, carnival tours since 1996 and alilujka tours since 1990. He took part in research expeditions to Hutsul region (1991), Macedonia (1996) and Belarus (1997). He has realised theatre projects: in Albania (2011), Belarus (1997, 1998) and Taiwan (2016). He leads a long-term programme of theatrical and ecological activity until 2030 "Źródła i przyszłość". Author of texts about theatre (book "Spiski życiowe" – 2020 and texts published in many periodicals published in Poland and abroad), poems (volume "Pomiędzy" – 2017) and texts of theatre songs. Together with Erdmute Sobaszek, he hosts the international Theatre Village Festival (since 2003). They have also been making music together since the first half of the 1980s. In 1996 they created a music formation – Field Band, with which they performed in many places in Poland and abroad (Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic). The title of their last concert was "Duets". They have also performed music to the plays of other theatre groups ("Sztetl-Welt" by the 3.5 Theatre).