‘[The theatre] is located in a six-storey building of the Marcin Kasprzak Radio Manufacturing Plant. In 1975, the former room of the Mazowsze cinema was adopted to the needs of the theatre according to the design of Anna Kapitaniak, Jacek Jedynak and Marek Wojciechowski. The theatre opened with Pierwszy dzień wolności (The First Day of Freedom) by L. Kruczkowski on 17 January 1976. The entrance to the theatre was emphasised by an ingenious portico in the form of a canopy placed on the main axis of the building. It is supported by dense, regular sets of thin, iron pipes. The inscription ‘Teatr na Woli’, which can be seen from the side of Kasprzaka street, in the upper, wide part of the crown, as well the letters TNW on the side, are decorative elements enlivening the whole. The theatre is entered through an open-work iron gate and a glass door. A few steps lead up to the hall where the box office is located. This leads to the foyer, with two cloakrooms situated on either side of the entrance. An important decorative element is a long wall with an entrance to the auditorium: the wall is covered with stone, gilded mosaic, additionally inlaid with shining sequins and projecting iron elements. The buffet is located behind the left cloakroom (from the entrance).

The amphitheatre auditorium is filled with thirteen rows of seats opposite the stage and with five rows on both sides of the proscenium. It has 403 to 480 places altogether, and as the seats are mobile, their number and arrangement can be changed. The room is painted in brown and supported by eight pillars, while the seats are upholstered with velvet in the same colour. The stage is 12 metres long and 4 metres high. It has been equipped with twelve hoists with a load capacity of 150 kg each. The stage is deprived of a frame and consists of mobile slabs that can be freely raised or lowered. However, behind this construction there is a little, traditional stage. The ceiling was designed in an interesting way: it is constructed of iron pipes, as well as square and rectangular dark mobile slabs with spotlights installed among them. Two platforms with spotlights were fitted on both sides of the mobile construction of the stage. At the back of the auditorium there are control booths, including a projection booth, since the room can also be used as a cinema.

The theatre occupies only the ground floor of the building. It is filled with four dressing rooms, two for women and two for men, each for several people, as well as a rehearsal room, several workshops (woman’s and man’s tailors, hairdresser, shoemaker, locksmith and a modelling workshop), a buffet, a recreational room for actors, a switchboard and offices.

Sets are stored in two storerooms next to the stage. In addition, the theatre uses a warehouse in Kasprzaka street, rented from the city gasworks, whereas a storeroom for wood, necessary to build sets, is located in a cellar in Płocka street.

An administrative – technical annex is being built on from the side of Skierniewicka street, to be completed in 1983.’

An excerpt from the book by Barbara Król-Kaczorowska, Teatry Warszawy (The Theatres of Warsaw), PIW, Warszawa 1986, pp. 247–248.

Literature:

1. Król-Kaczorowska B., Teatry Warszawy, PIW, Warszawa 1986.