The Life Inspires Us Foundation is a Golden Sceptre 2015 award ceremony partner.

On 30 November 2015 for the seventeenth time now one of Poland’s most important cultural awards – the Golden Sceptre – was awarded. The Life Inspires Us Foundation was a partner of the concert, which accompanied the awards ceremony.

The award was established by the Polish Culture Foundation and Bank Millennium and is being given since 1999. The award focuses on the intellectual creative work of an individual or group of artists; a community organisation; artistic institution; cultural or scientific movement. The first winner of the award was Jerzy Giedroyć.

The candidates are proposed and the award is given by a Chapter composed as follows: Beata Tyszkiewicz- Chairperson, Bogusław Kott- Deputy Chairperson, Rafał Skąpski – Secretary as well as Members: Professor Andrzej Strumiłło, Agnieszka Duczmal, Professor Wacław Sadkowski, Professor Aleksander Krawczuk.

In 2015 the Chapter decided to give the Golden Sceptre award, the associated cheque for PLN 110,000 as well as the sceptre sculpture by Professor Krzysztof Nitsch to POLISH RADIO THEATRE.

The award was given for consistency in presenting the greatest achievements of Polish and international playwrighting; focus on preserving the beauty of the Polish language; creative and inspiring presence in the life of many generations of radio audience; shaping the tastes and developing imagination of millions of Poles.

Polish Radio Theatre is the first cultural institution to receive the award. Almost one hundred actors appeared on stage to receive the sceptre statuette, which was the n passed on from hand to hand as befits a trophy won together.

The Small Sceptre award granted to a person or institution, which directly or symbolically follows up on the Main Award Winner’s achievement, together with a cheque for PLN 11,000 as well as the statuette were presented to the City of Sopot, which for fifteen years now has been co-organising the Two Theatres Polish Radio Theatre and Polish Television Theatre Festival.

The November night in Witold Lutosławski S-1 studio was full of theatre and songs. The theatrical main theme was Aleksander Fredro’s The Revenge – the most popular play in the history of Polish theatre.

The most popular scenes from historical stagings of the play, thanks to an archive show, were enacted again by Wieńczysław Gliński (Papkin), Czesław Wołłejko (Rejent) and Jan Świderski (Cześnik). They were accompanied on the stage by live actors: Krzysztof Gosztyła (Cześnik), Grażyna Barszczewska (Podstolina) and Marian Opania (Dyndalski). Signing actors : Grażyna Barszczewska, Krzysztof Gosztyła, Marian Opania, Marcin Januszkiewicz and Katarzyna Dąbrowska performed songs, which make part of the interpretive singing canon.

The special piece, which began and closed the awards gala, was composed and performed by the guitarist Krzysztof Ścierański supported by Stanisław Skoczyński playing the drums.

Comment

This year’s Golden Sceptre Chapter in presenting the award to Polish Radio Theatre, emphasised how important it is to see the artistic achievement of institutions, which are consistent and independent in building foundations of National Culture, at the same time providing the audience with unforgettable impressions involved with taking part in Theatre of Imagination shows.

Wojciech S. Kaczorowski

CEO of Life Inspires Us Foundation

The Polish Radio Theatre is a globally unique cultural institution. Its first radio play – „Warszawianka” (Varsovian Anthem) by Stanisław Wyspiański (adapted for radio by Alojzy Kaszyna) was broadcast on 29 November 1925. Since then the theatre has run continuously within the framework of the Polish Radio. Its productions are broadcast on Radio I, II and III. Throughout its history the Polish Radio Theatre has collaborated with almost all the most distinguished Polish writers, playwrights, directors, composers and actors.

Thanks to its commissioning of modern texts the theatre has also become one of the most important scenes where young writers and directors start. The strength of the Polish Radio Theatre are its authors and performers and listeners at home and abroad. The Theatre annually produces 100-120 new shows. Each of them has an audience from 300 to 600 thousand.