He wants “Mein Kampf” to stir reflection, he said; if it is protested, he will feel he has failed. But “If the government wants to make a scandal, it will.”

In 2017, Poland’s government withheld funds from two theater festivals: one because it planned to stage “The Curse;” another, because Oliver Frjlic, “The Curse’s” director, was one of the festival’s curators. (Mr. Glinski said these are just two examples from “dozens of decisions.”)

The government directly finances four large theaters. (The Powszechny is not one of them.) But Mr. Skrzywanek said he felt the controversies were also having an impact on the country’s many regional and local theaters, which were avoiding plays that might cause upset. Local governments that fund those theaters know that “political art is never good for them,” he said. “It’s better for them if it’s just crazy Ceasars and old farces.”

In February, the mayor of Rzeszow stopped rehearsals of a play at the city’s theater that discussed sexual abuse and compared the Polish Catholic Church to Judas, the betrayer of Jesus. “People are saying it was the most violent act of censorship since 1989,” said Pawel Passini, the play’s director, referring to the year when Poland began its transition to democracy. A spokesman for the mayor denied any censorship, and said in an email that the mayor just wanted to “draw attention” to parts of the show that could cause religious conflict.

Mr. Thun-Janowski, of the city of Warsaw, said the Powszechny is different from most theaters in Poland and less susceptible to pressure. There is a saying in the country, he said: “‘If you want a peaceful afternoon, don’t go to the theater.’ The guys from the Powszechny believe that.”

The Powszechny’s artistic director, Pawel Lysak, 54, said that he wanted the theater to cause a stir since he became its head in 2014. A play should always contain “something difficult, something provocative, something to change the world,” he said.