Helena Majdaniec Summer Theatre

The Helena Majdaniec Summer Theatre is an amphitheatre stage in Kasprowicz Park in Szczecin, set among trees on a natural slope by Lake Rusałka. It is a venue for concerts, ceremonies and other events, and also a popular destination for walks. The Wikipedia entry describes it as one of the largest amphitheatres in Poland, with more than 2,700 seats, and the largest stage in the city, with an area of 670 m².

From a park bandstand to an amphitheatre

Quistorp Park, today's Kasprowicz Park, was established in 1900. In the 1930s a wooden bandstand with a few rows of benches was built here by Lake Westendsee, today's Rusałka. After the war the park served mainly for walks, concerts and fairs, and from 1960 to 1962 the Young Talents Festival was held here. Ten years later the Society of Friends of Szczecin took the initiative to build an amphitheatre on the scale of the Forest Opera in Sopot, and the design was prepared by the Szczecin architect Zbigniew Abrahamowicz.

The construction was carried out largely thanks to the Social Committee, donations from residents and help from workplaces, the OHP (Voluntary Labour Corps) and the army. No roof was built at that time. The building was decorated with water cascades, the “Fire Birds” by Władysław Hasior, sculptures by Ryszard Chachulski and Stanisław Biżek and a mosaic by Piotr Wieczorek. The first to perform on the new stage, in 1976, was the “Mazowsze” ensemble, and all the seats were taken.

Renovation and rebuilding

In 2000 the stage was renovated and the roof completed, and in the following years new seating appeared and the stage and the backstage area for artists were modernised. In 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the Young Talents Festival, the Great Gala of Polish Song was held here, and tenor competitions and performances by the Opera at the Castle company are also held here. From 10 June 2020 a thorough rebuilding took place to a design by the London office Flanagan Lawrence, and the official opening took place on 29 July 2022. On the same day a monument to the theatre's patron, Helena Majdaniec, by Dorota Dziekiewicz-Pilich, was unveiled.

Practical information

• Location: Kasprowicz Park, Szczecin, by Lake Rusałka. Next to it lies Jan Kasprowicz Park.
• Nearby are the Rose Garden and the Jasne Błonia.
• Concert dates and rules of admission to events are given by their organisers; check them before your visit.