Jerzy Grzegorzewski Wierzbowa Street Hall

3, Wierzbowa Street / entrance at Fredro Street

The basic layout of the Hall was determined by the structure of the building, which was originally designed to house a café-restaurant. As a result, the stage and the auditorium are on the same level, forming a uniform space devoid of the partitions typical of a traditional theatre (such as a portal or stage curtain). Spotlights, loudspeakers and other technical fixtures are suspended from an overhead steel grating.

The stage is situated on a circular trapdoor/floor measuring 4.9 m in diametre. Hydraulically operated, it can be raised 0.3 m above, or lowered 3.7 m below floor level at two speeds - 0.7 or 0.3 m/second. It can carry loads of 120 kg per sq.m. There are 13 small lifts, each of which can carry 120 kg and move at 0.5 m/second.

In the auditorium, movable platforms are used to produce various stage-audience arrangements: traditional, integrated, en ronde, etc. The auditorium seats up to 165 people: 150 in the stalls and 15 in the gallery. There is a lift for wheelchairs users at the entrance to the Hall.

Light projectors, attached to an overhead garting or to floodlight booms, are computer-controlled, giving full automation of the direction and angle of the lights. The projectors are equipped with the remotely operated cassettes to change light filters.

The lighting system consists of 120 regulated, 15 unregulated and 9 working circuits, steered by a DMX signal from the computer control room, itself equipped with a disc-drive and memory with full back-up. The stage is also equipped with the latest electro-acoustic devices.