Andrej Woron and his Teatr Kreatur

Andrej Woron, (real name Andrzej Woroniec) was born in Stare Juchy in eastern Poland in 1952. When he was 30 he moved to West Berlin. At the time he was already a fascinating painter and a graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Arts (1978), where he worked as a lecturer immediately after completing his studies. An offer of a job as a stage designer attracted him to West Berlin in 1982. He was bewitched by the freedom in the walled-in city and decided to remain. At first he kept his head above water by giving painting courses and taking small artistic engagements. But Andrej Woron’s immense talent and sheer boundless energy soon came to fruition in group and individual exhibitions in Berlin galleries. In 1987 he was finally given a job teaching painting at the Academy of Arts in West-Berlin.

Woron had finally made it in the city of his choice, but his artistic journey was far from an end. By chance he met a man called Allard Stupperich. Allard Stupperich came from a wealthy family and was of the opinion that one should not only take from art but also give something back. He thus became the patron, not only of Andrej Woron but also of “Teatr Kreatur” (Creature Theater) the group he founded in 1987. This was an optimal collaboration for both men. Whereas Allard Stupperich financed the art without interfering with the work of the artists, Andrej Woron was free to work independently and show his true potential. This synergy breathed new life into an old Kreuzberg factory turned arts centre: the “Theater am Ufer“ became the official residence of “Teatr Kreatur”.

This backyard in Kreuzberg was where Andrej Woron and his international star ensemble (most of its members came from Poland and Germany), presented their fringe theatre masterpieces. Audiences and critics alike were unanimous:

"Andrej Woron is probably the most exciting theatre maker in the city of Berlin and his Teatr Kreatur is a continually sold-out place of pilgrimage for maniacs who have turned their backs in disgust on dried-up subsidised theatre. A theatre miracle."

(DER SPIEGEL 28/1991)

“He refuses to intellectualise, flatten out, and translate his works to fit in with Western cultural tastes. His company curses in Polish and associates in Polish. The music is written by the Polish composer, Janusz Stokłosa, the posters designed by the Lithuanian, Stasys, and he takes the sensitive scenario from the Polish writer Tadeusz Słobodzianek. Teatr Kreatur is an island of Slavic spirit in the whole of Berlin.” (Die Zeit 48/1995)