Festivals, awards, full houses. 2022 in Powszechny Theatre in Łódź

So many things happened those 12 lat months it is hard to believe that a year ago we had pandemic, limits of the houses, obligation to wear masks in theatres… So we all wondered whether it would be possible to return to a normal, pre-pandemic situation in the theatres. But the turnout and the list of awards speak for themselves. It was a very busy and intensive time in Powszechny Theatre in Łódź! We had full houses, many awards and participations in festivals in Poland and Europe.

Dear Viewers, thank you very much for that year! In a brief summary we want to remind you what happened in 2022 in our Theatre.

We presented 457 spectacles (out of which 74 on-line) and organized almost 130 educational workshops („Child in a situation”, theatrical lessons). Altogether almost 130,000 people took part in our events. In 2022 ticket income and raised funds (grants, purposeful subsidies, sponsors) amounted to 4,423,000 zlotys.     

1. Premieres and first presentations  

We produced 7 premieres and first presentations: „Ink. Yesterday. Giraffe” by Juliusz Machulski, directed by Paweł Szkotak; „Imagine” directed by Krystian Lupa (co-production with Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw); „Maria” by Radosław Paczocha directed by Adam Orzechowski; „Rage”, directed on a voluntary basis by Ewa Pilawska („Child in a situation” project); „Who Wants To Be a Jew?” by Marek Modzelewski, directed by Jacek Braciak (his directing debut); we also presented spectacles in our unique project The Reading theatre for people with poor eyesight and blind, among others „The Fugitives” by Pierre Palmade and Christoph Duthuron).        

2. The 28th edition of International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant  

„Artist.Visionary” was the theme of the 28th edition of International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant. Here is the list of the spectacles presented to our viewers: „Forefathers’ Eve” by Adam Mickiewicz, directed by Maja Kleczewska; „1,8 m” by Ivan Vyrypaev; „Flight”  by Zenon Fajfer directed by Anna Augustynowicz; „Snow” based on a novel by Orhan Pamuk, directed by Bartosz Szydłowski; „Dark Water” by Amanita Muskaria, directed by Iwo Vedral; „Uncle Vanya” by Anton Chekhov, directed by Małgorzata Bogajewska; „Maria” by Radosław Paczocha, directed by Adam Orzechowski (our premiere); „Imagine” by Krystian Lupa (our premiere in co-production with Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw). There were also two video projections of Krystian Lupa’s spectacles: „Austerlitz” in Vilnius and „A Madman’s Diary” in China, a conference „Krystian Lupa. Artist.Visionary”, an exhibition „Krystian Lupa. Visions. Insights” and a concert „Climate Keys”. The festival was co-financed by The City of Łódź and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.       

In the Audience Plebiscite the viewers chose „Flight” as the best spectacle, Dominika Bednarczyk („Forefathers’ Eve”) as the best actress and Jan Peszek (also „Forefathers’ Eve”) as the best actor. The choices of the festival audience proved to be a presage of consecutive awards for „Flight” and „Forefathers’ Eve” that were given by critics and festival jurors.       

3. Festival journeys 

 As the Łódź theatre ambassadors, we played all over Poland and Europe. We presented „Dancing with the Stars” by Michał Walczak at the 15th Comedy Carnival in Katowice and „I Wanted To Be” by Michał Siegoczyński was shown as a prologue to the 15th edition of Divine Comedy. „Imagine” by Krystian Lupa was presented at many festivals, among others in Modena at the prestigious VIE Festival, at the 26th Kontakt International Theatre Festival, the 21st all-Poland Festival of Drama Direction „Interpretations” and the 15th Divine Comedy Festival. It was also shown in Théâtre de Liège (Belgium) and Teatros del Canal in Madrid.

4. Year of awards and distinctions  

Thanks to the votes of the viewers, „I Wanted To Be” won in the Plastry Kultury Plebiscite for 2021; it received as many as 39% of the votes! In this year’s edition of his „Subjective list of actors” Jacek Sieradzki featured Arkadiusz Wójcik as the actor „on a roll”. The Powszechny Theatre actor Piotr Lauks received an Award of the Mayor of Łódź for 2022 (he was the only actor to get the awards presented by Hanna Zdanowska, Mayor of Łódź).

In its traditional annual ranking, „Theatre” monthly gave us many prizes, too. The critics praised „Imagine” which was awarded in several categories: as the best spectacle, the best directing, the best male role, the best female role, the best stage design and the best supporting role. Mariusz Ostrowski was awarded by Jacek Wakar for his role in „I Wanted To Be”. Spectacles that had been presented at the International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant – among others „Forefathers’ Eve”, „Flight”, „Austertrlitz” and „Snow” – were also mentioned in the ranking.     

International jury of the 15th edition of Divine Comedy Festival awarded „Imagine” by Krystian Lupa for remarkable collective actor creation! „The artists have developed the text together with director Krystian Lupa, and as a result we see on the stage a cast of strong actors who give a unique, dynamic and vivid performance as an ensemble”, reads the verdict’s reason. The spectacle took part in the final of „Scena w budowie” – Festival of Design and Costumes (the results are to be published in 2023).   

Polityka” weekly has published its list of 10 best spectacles of 2022 in Poland. Among them there was „Imagine” by Krystian Lupa. The spectacle was mentioned several times in a Subjective Theatre Alphabet 2002 of Aram Stern (among others in Actor, Actress and Team categories). „Imagine” was mentioned as one of the most important events of 2022 by Jacek Cieślak in „Rzeczpospolita”.,    

Below you can find the list of the prizes given by the Powszechny Theatre director for artistic season 2021/2022:

• Actress  Małgorzata Goździk – for finding timeless and universal human features in her roles;
• Actor Filip Jacak – for using various acting means and creating complex characters which put questions to the viewers;
• Actor Sebastian Jasnoch – for his openness to various aesthetics, artistic search and openness to actor’s challenges;
• Actress Paulina Nadel – for her development, creating of multilevel roles and using vast repertoire of acting means; 
• Dresser, props mistress Tamara Fligiel – for her backstage work due to which the spectacles go without any disturbances and the actors may focus on their roles;
• Head of General Department Beata Kruszyńska – for her professionalism in running smoothly the theatre’s  tax and legal matters 
• Sales and Tickets Department manager  Małgorzata Myszkowska – for her attention to details and effectiveness in keeping the turnout high during difficult postpandemic times
• Marketing and sales co-ordinator Miłosz Słota – for setting up the marketing team thanks to which Powszechny Theatre is still present in the mind of its viewers and may have full houses at the spectacles
• Deputy Technical Stage Manager Marcin Stasiak – for efficient organization and professional readiness for repertory and festival spectacles
• Secretary’s office worker and artistic work coordinator Dagmara Wierucka – for her professionalism and introduction of efficient model of secretary’s office work and coordination of artistic work