2023/2024 season in Powszechny Theatre in Łódź – a short recapitulation

The 2023/2024 season in Powszechny Theatre in Łódź has just come to an end. We were visited by more than 150.000 viewers. If all of them stood in a straight line holding hands, the queue from the theatre would reach Zakopane! We played 416 performances, you applauded them for a total of 1300 minutes, that is for almost a whole day! This has been a very intensive season, thank you for being together with us in our Theatre. 

We played seven premieres and first presentations:  

•  „Appearances” by Marc Camoletti, directed by Jakub Przebindowski (first presentation on 20 October, 2023)
• „Tutoring In Love” by  Flavia Coste, directed by Sławomir Narloch (first Polish presentation on 2 December, 2023)
• „Bim-Bom-Boom! Workaholic romantic comedy”, written and directed by Michał Walczak (first presentation on 5 January, 2024)
• „The Fugitives” by Pierre Palmade and Christoph Duthuron, directed by Jerzy Hutek and Arkadiusz Wójcik (premiered on 9 May, 2024)
• „The Biedermanns” by Anna Wakulik, directed by Adam Orzechowski (first presentation on 24 May, 2024)
• „Natives” by Glenn Waldron, presentation in the „Reading theatre for the blind and partially sighted persons” project, directed (on a voluntary basis) by Ewa Pilawska (5 June, 2024); the spectacle was aired on the Polish Radio Łódź for those who were not able to come to our theatre
• „Natives” by Glenn Waldron, presentation in the „Child in a Situation” project, directed (on a voluntary basis) by Ewa Pilawska (first Polish presentation on 6 June, 2024).

We inaugurated the series „Gombrowicz – a genius?” which consisted of six meetings presenting the works of Witold Gombrowicz. Together with The Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre we produced three radio shows for the blind and partially sighted persons (Arie Aksztajn „Dolna Street”, Chava Rosenfarb „Tree of Life” and „Ballad of an Erstwhile Forrest”).  

We presented „I Wanted To Be” directed by Michał Siegoczyński at the Poznań „Time for Theatre” Festival, and „Who Wants To Be a Jew?” directed by Jacek Braciak at the 17th Comedy Carnival in Katowice.  

In March and April there was the 30th edition of International Festival of Plays Pleasant And Upleasant. The following spectacles were presented during the jubilee edition:   

•  „Mothers. A Song For Wartime”, conception and direction by Marta Górnicka (The Chorus of Women Foundation in co-production with Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin; Festival d’Avignon; Maillon, Théâtre de Strasbourg – Scène européenne; Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw; SPRING Performing Arts Festival (Utrecht); Tangente St. Pölten – Festival Für Gegenwartskultur)
• „Little Fifteen – Pomeranian Legends”, directed by Tomasz Man (The Witkacy Nowy Theatre in Słupsk)
• Maja Komorowska’s Master Presentation: Samuel Beckett, „Happy Days”, directed by Antoni Libera (The Gustaw Holoubek Dramatyczny Theatre in Warsaw)
• „How I Didn’t Kill My Father And How Much I Regret It”, adapted and directed by Mateusz Pakuła (co-production of Łaźnia Nowa Theatre in Cracow and The Stefan Żeromski Theatre in Kielce)
• „The Last Days of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu” by Julia Holewińska, directed by Wojciech Faruga (Polski Theatre in Bydgoszcz)
• „Once Upon a Long Day”, directed by Luk Perceval
• „Melodrama”, directed by Anna Smolar (The Zygmunt Hübner Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw)
• Master Presentation: „Elizabeth Costello. Seven Lectures and Five Moral Tales”, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski (Nowy Theatre in Warsaw)
• Plato, „Republic/Der Staat”, directed by Jan Klata (co-production of The Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Cracow and Nationaltheater Mannheim）
• Master Presentation „Fredro. The Jubilee Year”, directed by Jan Englert (National Theatre in Warsaw).

Cultural education:

In 2023/2024 season there were about 100 workshops and educational classes for about 10.000 participants. Majority of the events belonged to the „Child In a Situation” project. The original project of Ewa Pilawska has been carried out for many years;  it consists of spectacles and workshops, dedicated mainly to young viewers. The project events take up various difficult problems such as homelessness, parents’ depression, hate, sexual initiation, transsexuality, mechanisms of aggression. The original workshops are moderated by Andrzej Jakubas together with many invited guests – among others Aleksandra Dulas, Anna Jurek, Rafał Osiński and Paweł Pustelnik. It very often appears that for many young viewers it is the first possibility of being heard and having a chance to speak. The project is based on a dialogue and not on giving ready-made solutions. The moderators and the audience are partners, they listen to each other’s opinions, learn from themselves and inspire to reflexions. The project could be realized thanks to the financial support of AMCOR (the firm has been the strategic sponsor of the „Child In a Situation” project and has been supporting our theatre since the beginning of the project).               

Besides, our viewers took part in theatre lessons, in lesson on the curtain (Powszechny Theatre in Łódź is one of only two Polish theatres which have painted curtains), actors’ workshops and other projects showing the theatre behind the scenes.   

Besides spectacles, educational projects and the Festival, we invited our viewers to:

• exhibitions – sketches by Krystian Lupa; a retrospective exhibition of International Festival of Plays Pleasant And Unpleasant; works by Justyna Cieślik    
• discussion – „Why Are We Ashamed of Comedy?”, which accompanied the first presentation of „Appearances” and the ceremony of awarding the laureates of the 7th edition of „Comedywriting” 
• guided tour of the Biedermanns’ Palace which took place after the presentation of „The Biedermanns” (the project co-realized with University of Łódź)
• meetings with the creators of the spectacles which took part in the 30th International Festival of Plays Pleasant And Unpleasant
• „Theatre Day, Theatre Week” – we invited the city inhabitants to 12 spectacles with only symbolic ticket prices
• New Year’s Eve night
• Museum Night at the Powszechny Theatre
• our project „No Taboo” dedicated to young  viewers and carried out together with Puro Hotel in Łódź
• our action „Summer in Powszechny Theatre in Łódź ” (discount holiday tickets).

We were partners in various projects:

• National Reading
• Senior’s weekend with culture
• The Łódź Senioralia
• The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity
• Cracow Poetry Salon in Music Theatre
• Knowledge of HIV and AIDS competition
• Projects of SKN Progress academic circle (University of Łódź students)
• Projects of Students’ Association BEST (Łódź University of Technology)
• Theatres’ Spring

This past season our actress Barbara Lauks received the Mayor of Łódź Award for her achievements and artistic activities; the six-hundredth Anniversary Łódź Medals were awarded to director Ewa Pilawska, acoustician Andrzej Otomański and stage manager Małgorzata Urzędowska. In October 2023 we received two unique distinctions given by the community of the blind and partially sighted persons. Director Ewa Pilawska was awarded for taking the first place in the 2023 edition of Community Idol competition and Powszechny Theatre took the first place as the Institution Open for the Blind.

Last season’s donation and revenues:   

• the theatre’s subsidy for 2024 amounted to 7,239,150 zloties
• revenues on tickets’ sale as well as financial means from our sponsors and donations amounted to more than 5,605,000 zloties

Now we are taking a short leave, see you again in September!