In March and April, Łódź will be the theater capital of Poland. On March 19, the XXVIII International Festival of Pleasant and Unpleasant Arts started, which every year opens a series of the most important theater festivals in Poland. Proposed by the artistic director Ewa Pilawska, the theme of this year’s event, is “Artist. Visionary”.

The festival includes a series of events related to Krystian Lupa – one of the most outstanding contemporary Polish directors and an artist appreciated worldwide. On April 23, the organizers scheduled the world premiere of “Imagine”, directed by him. It is a co-production of the theaters in Warsaw and Łódź, carried out as part of the European project “Prospero”. The performance will be an artistic journey into the world of counterculture and the times of the cultural revolution. Citing John Lennon’s song “Imagine”, Krystian Lupa will ask a question about the viability of a utopia in today’s world, especially the ideas of New Age, a vision of the world without wars, states, property and hatred.

The organizers also invite viewers to two performances. The artistic director Ewa Pilawska announces a conference with two exhibitions on the work of Krystian Lupa, including a presentation of his drawings.

The event began on March 19 with the show of Adam Mickiewicz’s “Dziady”, directed by Maja Kleczewska, at the Słowacki Theater in Krakow.

The artistic director of the event stated that on that iconic stage, the poem “Dziady” has a special meaning and an added artistic weight that would be difficult to transfer. Its architecture, neo-baroque decorations, Siemiradzki’s painted curtain and the history of this place make “Dziady” unique when played at the Słowacki Theater.

On April 21, the host of the Festival, Teatr Powszechny in Łódź, will present the premiere of “Maria” – a performance inspired by Maria Kwaśniewska, a native of Łódź. She is an extraordinary figure, an athlete, an Olympic medalist, a war heroine, a woman who had the courage to stand up to Hitler during the 1933 Olympics in Berlin, but above all a person who saved hundreds of people from the Holocaust.

During this year’s festival, viewers will see the latest performances of the most important Polish and European dramaturgists. The repertoire includes “1.8M” directed by Ivan Vyrypayev (Nowy Teatr in Warsaw), “Odlot” by Zenon Fajfer directed by Anna Augustynowicz (Teatr Współczesny in Szczecin), “Uncle Vanya” by Antoni Chekhov directed by Małgorzata Bogajewska (Ludowy Theater in Krakow) and the Polish premiere of the “Climate Keys” concert project, which combines music and ecology.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński