The production ‘Imagine’, directed by Krystian Lupa and co-produced by the two General Theatres in Warsaw and Łódź – will be presented in several European cities in October. The tours to Italy, Belgium and Spain are possible thanks to international cooperation as part of the project ‘Prospero. Extended Theatre’, implemented with support from the EU’s Creative Europe programme.

The European tour began on the weekend of 15 and 16 October at the historic Teatro Storchi in Modena, Italy, as part of the VIE Festival. A week later, the ‘Imagine’ team will visit Belgium, where the show will be performed at the Theatre de Liege, and on 28 and 29 October there will be screenings for Spanish audiences at Teatros del Canal in Madrid.

Krystian Lupa’s original production refers to the ideas of the New Age and the cultural revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Based on the lyrics of John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’, the director asks about the viability of utopias in the contemporary world, especially the New Age idea of a vision of a world without wars, states, property and hatred.

“Lennon is the author of the song ‘Imagine’, which says: imagine that there is no hell/heaven, that there are no borders and nations worth dying and killing for. The idea, of course, is to establish this idea, to initiate it in human thought, in the human imagination. For me it is a brilliant text, it has become an anthem for a reason, in some sense also a New Age anthem. It is a great phenomenon, a great cultural symbol and a great symbol of what has been lost. In our play, we are reflecting why it has been squandered”, said Krystian Lupa on the occasion of the premiere, which took place in April in Łódź.

Following October’s foreign tours, two guest master shows of Imagine are also scheduled for the end of November in Katowice, as part of the 21st National Festival of Directing Art ‘Interpretations’.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński