The Art and Society Festival Happy City 2018

Mass migrations, armed conflicts, humanitarian crisis, intolerance towards refugees and growing nationalism- these are only some of the issues that European societies have faced in recent years. Such phenomena also have an effect on our local communities and their everyday operation. For this reason, the Powszechny Theatre decided to dedicate the third edition of the Happy City festival to these themes.

The festival’s name refers to the famous book by Charles Montgomery, in which he traces how cities, their infrastructure and organization, influence the quality and lifestyle of residents. The project stems from a desire to deepen the cooperation of state cultural institutions, NGOs as well as various artistic groups and the inhabitants of Praga. This year, the partners of the theatre will be the Association of Theatre Educators, Free Words Sphere foundation, the Warsaw brotherhood, organizations operating near Zabkowska and Targowa streets (Hokuspokus association, ‘Us’ association, Change foundation) in addition to large institutions such as Sinfonia Varsovia and the Theatre School.

As part of the artistic program of this year’s edition the following plays will be featured: “Second Exile” by Oliver Frljić from the National Theatre in Mannheim, “Minefield” by the Argentinian artist Lola Arias as well as two new festival productions, openings by Małgorzata Wdowik and Krzysztof Garbaczewski. Three young directors from the Warsaw Theatre School will stage their representations of otherness (“Hagada for Poland” directed by Damian Josef Nec-two shows in May- and productions by Daria Kopiec and Monika Popiel with shows planned for October). In the fall we will showcase projects previously featured in the festival: “Park-Opera” by Wojtek Blecharz, “Private space” by Aleksandra Jakubczak and Karolina Brzuzan dealing with the re-privatization in Warsaw and the polish housing market, a radio show by Bartosz Zaskorski “A horror shop in Praga”, “Free the streets” by Piotr Wysocki and last but not least, the second edition of the project “Block of fury” including workshops and the presentation of flags created by the residents of Praga.

Educational and civic activities will also be part of the festival program, since we believe that culture along with intelligent education and social activism is one of the most important tools of developing democratic society. We have planned theatre workshops at our Theatre, cyclical events by the Association of Theatre Educators, The Little Theatre Workshop, activities of the Social Theatre Laboratory and the performance “Empathy”.

We hope that the Happy City festival becomes an important event once again, combining artistic projects with reflections on current sociopolitical issues. The festival, as a partnership between institutions, artists and viewers, will serve as a platform for a conversation about the specific problems we face in our times.