The KTO Theatre was established in 1977. Its first production was The Garden of Delight the first ten performances of which were closed to the general public and presented to no more than several hundred people. In the following year, however, they were attended by the audience of nearly three thousand in Krakow and some other Polish cities.

In the 47th season of the company’s operation the statistics are considerably different: over 80 productions, performed indoors and outdoors in Poland and around the world, have been attended by more than 3,000,000 people. The group has visited over 250 cities in over 40 countries on five continents. It has performed in Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Iran, Mexico, South Korea, Tunisia, the USA, and almost all the countries in Europe.

The worldwide stature of the KTO Theatre has also been reflected in its involvement in numerous international projects. Among the most important ones there were OPERATION OPERA, a show created together with the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo, and The Refugees, a theatre installation presented in Leipzig to the audience of 120,000 viewers on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, performances Musette et Polka , Promised Land and Visit in co-production with festivals in France, Croatia and Germany or CANTATA – New Year’s Eve millennium show broadcast by the BBC to over 120 countries.

The KTO Theatre is the organizer of the international ULICA Festival in Krakow (37 editions in the years 1988-2024), as well as the organizer of other Krakow’s artistic projects – the Theatre Nights (17 editions in the years 2007-2024) and the Poetry Nights (13 editions in the years 2011-2024).

Since January 2005 the KTO Theatre has had the status of a municipal theatre in Krakow, and since 2021, thanks to the goodwill and generosity of the City of Krakow and the support from the Regional Operational Programme for the Małopolska Region, has been granted a building and a stage in the heart of the Kraków district of Podgórze.

For 47 years now the KTO Theatre has operated under the leadership of Jerzy Zoń.