In Autumn 1986 Teatr Provisorium from eastern Poland became the latest of the radical groups from that country to visit Britain after an imposed absence. Like the pioneering Teatr Osmego Dnia a year earlier (featured in NTQ8), they came through the support of the Chapter Arts Centre. Cardiff, the Brith Gof Theatre from Aberystwyth. and contacts at Warwick University. Shortly after their previous English performances at the first LIFT festival, most of the company were imprisoned under martial law – what Poles call ‘the War State’ – and one of their company left Poland for good shortly after his release. In the Spring of 1986 they were officially downgraded to the status of unpaid amateurs in an effort to reduce their output. But the company's director. Janusz Oprynski, believes that their work has not changed fundamentally since its foundation: ‘The theatrical space has not changed; nor has our way of creating a theatrical reality. The most important thing is that drama gives us a possibility of transposing personal experience into the language of theatre and this is perhaps – it should be – the most interesting part of theatre work’. In this composite piece, the full context is provided by the whole company in discussion with Tony Howard, who also describes their most recent productions, and finally Piotr Kuhiwczak, a Warsaw lecturer and essayist, speaks with Janusz Oprynski shortly after his arrival in Britain. The translation is by Barbara Plebanek.