Ewa Pilawska on the 30th Festival

„People are divided into those who love jubilees and those who are tired with them… Jubilees always like to reach the past – they demand to dig through the archives, to excavate memories that were once shelved…We look at old photographs, we recognize ourselves and it strikes us how much we have changed. We are the same people but now we are somebody different. We notice our development, we see how our decisions have left mark on ourselves and on others. For some the past is closed, others are still very much connected with it.

This year International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant will be held for the 30th time. It means that it reached his majority long time ago and now it is in its „respectable” phase of life. This jubilee makes me realize how important those 30 years were and at the same time how pivotal was the courage of looking into the future and taking the artistic risk. This 30 years’ history was written due to facing new challenges by the creators and the audience.         

My „thank you” goes to all people who have supported me, helped the Festival spread its wings and confirmed me in the idea that it is worth following the dreams. I thank all creators and viewers with whom we opened another doors. I have the feeling of great joy, happiness and fulfilment because there has been a multigenerational community around the Festival. One day somebody told me she had been growing together with the Festival and I felt satisfied to have created something original and important for the recipient. If the Festival lets us hear a creator’s expression then it is the greatest reason to be proud.        

I am glad we succeeded in creating the Festival with a whole range of colours which is not limited to only one trend, one theatrical aesthetics. In order to be complete, the discussion on art should embrace opinions of various generations. Each generation forms its joy and beauty and all the time we should listen to each other.      

I am glad the Festival is „intimate”, common and elite – opened to everybody and at the same time responding to the needs of those who want more from the theatre.  

The motto of this year’s edition of the Festival is „Theatre festivals”. I would like to invite you to discuss the idea of a theatre festival. What is a festival in general?

In my opinion a festival should be an intellectual challenge and that is why it is essential that it has an artistic programme. Everything that happens on stage is crucial because it launches our sensibility and opens space for discussion. The rest is either an addition or a supplement. Eye-catching package will not replace an aesthetic experience. Festival is a holiday for people who believe in art and especially are sensitive to shallowness and lack of authenticity. A festival is an honest conversation with the audience.      

A crucial question arises here on a relation between a festival and a place where it is organized as well as the recipients of the festival programme. Our Festival is a story of a constant building of multigenerational community, of following a repertoire that has been changing and evolving. What has it given to Łódź? Has it contributed to the development of Powszechny Theatre? Has it found its permanent place in the cultural calendar? Is it the same as Warsaw Theatre Meetings for Warsaw, Divine Comedy for Cracow, Kontakt for Toruń or Dialogue for Wrocław?  

I invite you to the 30th edition of the Festival in March and April.

Let’s meet at the Theatre!
Ewa Pilawska
artistic director of the festival