Juliusz Osterwa, born Julian Andrzej Maluszek, was a renowned Polish actor, theatre director and art theoretician active in the interwar period. He was the founder of Theatre Reduta, the first experimental stage in Warsaw following Poland's return to independence at the end of World War One. Osterwa began his Warsaw career at the age of 33 by staging the works of Poland's revolutionary dramatists including Juliusz Słowacki, Stanisław Wyspiański, Stefan Żeromski, Jerzy Szaniawski, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, and Cyprian Norwid. This team was commonly known as the actor's commune, resembling an ascetic monastery devoted to spiritual practice.