The Lodz Puppet Theater’s origins can be found in the late 1940’s. One of its first premieres, directed by the creator and current sponsor of the Henryk Ryl stage, has been called the model play for the youngest audience for many years. Nowadays as one of the few puppet stages, Arlekin stages plays performed with the use of puppets hanging from numerous 2.5-meter long strings. This method is extremely difficult but, at the same time, very attractive for the audience. The theater also stages plays realized with traditional puppet methods as well as plays which combine the world of puppets with that of actors.
For many years, the Theater was the venue of the International Festival of Solo Puppeteers and the International Street Art Festival “TrotuArt”. Since 2015, the Theater hosts a big event called AnimArt which is focused on all the aspects of the art of animation.
Currently Arlekin Theater occupies the entire historical tenement house built in the beginning of the 20th century in Art Nouveau style. The building has always combined residential and entertainment functions and for many years it housed a Redoubt-wedding hall. The theater became the owner of the tenement house in 1962 and since then it has been adapted to accommodate the stage. Its last complex renovation works took place in 2014 and now it embellishes its neighborhood.
