„Imagine” – a new play by Krystian Lupa

On the 22nd of October 2021, we began rehearsals for “Imagine” directed by Krystian Lupa. The show is a co-production of Teatr Powszechny im. Zygmunta Hübnera in Warsaw and Teatr Powszechny in Łódź. The world premiere is planned for the finale of the XXVIII International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant, on the 23rd of April 2022 in Łódź. The Warsaw premiere is planned for the 7th of May 2022. 

photo from the first rehearsal: Marianna Kulesza

“Imagine” is an artistic journey around the world of counterculture, the times of identity and cultural revolution at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. Krystian Lupa used the lyrics of “Imagine” by John Lennon as a starting point and he asks a question about the liveliness of utopias in today’s world, particularly the New Age idea, the vision of our world without wars, countries, ownership and hate.

–“Imagine” is a third cooperation of Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw with Krystian Lupa. In 2017 we realized “Proces” based on Franz Kafka’s story. It was a co-production of four theatres in Warsaw (Nowy, Powszechny, Studio and TR Warszawa) organized thanks to the priceless support of the capital city of Warsaw. In 2019 we premiered a monumental show - “Capri – the island of fugitives” based on Malaparte’s novel. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, our broad tour plans with “Capri” (Spain, France, Italy, China, Japan, and more) had to be cancelled. That’s why we are thrilled for another show that in a way will be a continuation of the artistic research of our team. It is a great challenge for us and an opportunity to tighten our international cooperation due to “landing” our production in the “Prospero. Extended Theatre” project. We are also filled with optimism thanks to our close relationship with Teatr Powszechny in Łódź and one of the biggest theatrical festivals in Poland, that was created and has been successfully led by Ewa Pilawska – says Paweł Łysak, the director of Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw.

In the show’s cast we have the actors of Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw (Grzegorz Artman, Karolina Adamczyk, Michał Czachor, Anna Ilczuk, Andrzej Kłak, Mateusz Łasowski, Karina Seweryn, Ewa Skibińska i Julian Świeżewski) and Michał Lacheta from the team of Teatr Powszechny in Łódź, with a guest actress, Marta Zięba from Teatr Studio and a guest actor, Piotr Skiba. 

– I’m glad to be bringing a new show to life with Paweł Łysak and Paweł Sztarbowski, with whom we have the experience of an exemplary co-production from a few years ago. Back then they were running Teatr Polski in Bydgoszcz and we realized “Winter journey” directed by Maja Kleczewska. So far, thanks to the International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant, the audience in Łódź had the opportunity to see most of Krystian Lupa’s plays – for me one of the most incredible modern theatrical creators, who often speaks of dreamers and creation (especially in theatre) “an island of dreamers”... It has been my dream for a long time to have a show directed by him for the Festival. I’m happy that, together with Teatr Powszechny, we can close the 28th edition of the Festival in April 2022 with the world premiere of “Imagine” – says Ewa Pilawska, the creator and artistic director of Międzynarodowy Festiwal Sztuk Przyjemnych i Nieprzyjemnych (International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant) and the director of Teatr Powszechny in Łódź. 

More information about performance – click here.

Krystian Lupa – renowned Polish theatre director, set designer and writer, considered as the one of the greatest European directors. His last works are “Capri – the Island of Fugitives” in Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw (2019) and “Austerlitz” in Meno Fortas Theatre in Vilnius (2020). Lupa is a master at creating internally coherent stage realities. He often translates and adapts the texts which he stages, simultaneously designing the scenery and directing these productions. The quality of Lupa’s theatre derives from strong acting, which is often deemed “invisible” or “transparent”, made so by actors who unite almost completely with the characters they play. He was awarded with numerous prominent awards which include Leon Schiller Award (1992), Europe Theatre Prize (2009), Nestroy Theatre Prize (2014), Golden Cross of the Stage Award (2016).