Ladies and Gentlemen,
the beginning of 2016-2017 season was marked by Golden Yorick, an award granted for “Julius Caesar” by Barbara Wysocka for the best Shakespearean staging. We will end this season with ”Rage”, which will be performed at the beginning of Biennale Teatro in Venice, during which Maja Kleczewska will collect her Golden Lion for “innovations in theare”.
During the last months, we created the premieres of 7 performances: Elfriede Jelinek’s”Rage” by Maja Kleczewska, “THERE IS No Fear” based on stories told by the Vrindavan widows as prepared by Magda Fertacz and directed by Łukasz Chotkowski, “Kuroń. Passion according to St. Jack” by Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk directed by Paweł Łysak, “Curse” based on Stanisław Wyspiański’s drama by Oliver Frljić, Anton Chekhov’s “Seagull” by Wojciech Faruga, Władysław Reymont’s “Peasants” by Krzysztof Garbaczewski, and “Falling” by Árpád Schilling.
Our interests centered arout two themes: a conservative revolution and re-emerging fundamentalism, class division, identity built on division and exlusion, and, most of all, the crisis of democracy and lack of an idea that could clearly define the future. We have addressed these issues not only on premieres, but also in our activities as part of the Art and Community Festival “Happy City” and Common Garden located in front of the theatre. The third edition of the ‘Open Ząbkowska Street’ Festival has just begun. The festival is carried out as part of Integrated Revitalisation Programme for the Capital City of Warsaw. The Powszechny Theatre organises the festival in co-operation with animators, artists, and non-governmental organisations from the Praga district. ’Open Ząbkowska Street’ will be held at five weekends in the summer.
The idea to go beyond the theatre’s building, to carry out art projects in the city, and an actual co-operation with the citizens are an integral part of our programme. Equally important is cooperation with Strefa WolnoSłowa (Free Speech Zone) - an organisation working with migrants and refugees in Warsaw that undertakes a number of art, integration, and information activities to combat xenophobia and racism. The Powszechny Theatre co-ordinated a major event – the 2016 Congress of Culture –which was a meeting point of various groups accross Poland that met to diagnose the condition of culture and discuss the directions of its changes. We believe that all those valuable social initiatives of the Powszechny Theatre, similarly to (often intense) discussions about the “Curse”, play an important role in fullfilling the mission of public theatres and benefit the discourse concerning the shape of democracy in Poland. Thanks to such events, the Powszechny Theatre is no longer a place of culture for presenting specific problems in lab conditions that is detached from the area of conflicts and politics; it has become a real forum of social changes. We belive that criticising community myths and exposing social conflicts are one of the fundamental tasks of a public cultural institution. We intend to continue to implement our ideas: to create a place that is friendly and open to everyone, a place that promotes diversity; a place that supports social involvement and civic commitment that enables you to discuss controversial issues.
We are glad that apart from our own performances as well as artistic and social events, we had an opportunity to host the International Festival of Theatres for Children and Young People “Korczak” in the Powszechny Theatre, along with the performances of actors from the “Montownia” Theatre, the 3rd Conference “Culture and Development”, the International Literature Festival “Apostrophe”, as well as to continue co-operation with the music club “Mózg Powszechny”. We would like to cordially thank all our partners!
Our activities led to lively discussions of a national and international magnitude. The Powszechny Theatre’s growing position is manifested by high frequency and numerous invitations to the major Polish and foreign festivals, along with awards, the most important of which are as follows: Golden Yorick for “Julius Caesar” at the 20th Shakespearan Festival in Gdańsk, award for directing the play “Everyone Gets What They Believe In” at the International Festival ”Divine Comedy” in Cracow, the “Equality Glasses” (“For a consistent vision of a ”theatre that meddles in”, for defending the freedom of speech and the freedom of creation, and especially for the performances: ”Kuroń. Passion according to St. Jack” and “The Curse”, the award of the Chairman of the City Council of Szczecin for the play “Everyone Gets What They Believe In” at the 52nd Review of Small Theatrical Forms ”Counterpoint”, along with Golden Pocket to Katarzyna Borkowska for her scenography and costumes used in the play Books of Jacob directed by Ewelina Marciniak at the Scenography and Costume Festival ”Scene under Construction” in Lublin.
“THERE IS No Fear” (in cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and Kasba Arghya Theatre) premiered in Kolkata. Two displays of “The Curse” in the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin received an applause. Soon, “The Rage” will be performed in Venice, and “The Curse” in Prague. We are pleased to inform you that in the incoming seasons we will begin an international project called “Atlas of Transitions” that is carried out under the programme “Creative Europe” in co-operation with: Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione, Cantieri Meticci, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Le Channel scène nationale de Calais, Backa Teater - Göteborgs Stadsteater, A.T.K (European Association of Albanian contemporary theatre), Tjeter Vizion, Théâtre de Liège, Motus Terrae.
The beginning of the new art season will be marked in September by the premiere of “Mephisto” directed by Agnieszka Błońska and adapted by Joanna Wichowska. Later, we will invite you to new plays that are directed by, among others, Wiktor Rubin, Michał Zadara, Cezary Tomaszewski, Barbara Wysocka, Agnieszka Jakimiak, Justyna Sobczyk, Jakub Skrzywanek, Weronika Szczawińska, as well as the world premiere of adaptation of works by Ziemowit Szczerk directed by Paweł Łysak. In spring, there will be the second edition of the Art and Community Festival “Happy City”, which will be concluded by the “Forum for the Future of Culture”, during which we will discuss the prospects of development of free culture in Poland.
Join us!
The Directors and Team of the Zygmunt Hübner Powszechny Theater in Warsaw
