Management
Director
Dorota
Ignatjew
Dorota Ignatjew is an actor, theatre director, cultural manager, and director of theatres; on September 1, 2024 began as director of the National Stary Theatre in Krakow. She is a graduate of the Puppetry Faculty at the PWST Theatre School in Wrocław (1992), the Acting Faculty at the PWST Theatre School in Krakow (1994), and Post-Graduate Cultural Management Studies at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw (2013).
In the early 1990s, Dorota Ignatjew was an assistant to Jerzy Grzegorzewski, and in 1995–2003 she was a full-time actor at the A. Szyfman Polski Theatre in Warsaw. In 2003–2009 she served as an assistant art director at the National Theatre in Warsaw and a full-time directors’ assistant. She collaborated with such artists as: Tadeusz Bradecki, Michał Walczak, Kazimierz Kutz, Agnieszka Glińska, Agnieszka Lipiec-Wróblewska, Stanisław Różewicz, Michał Zadara, Willi Pomerantz, Andrzej Domalik, Maciej Prus, Iwan Wyrypajew, Jan Englert, and Barbara Wysocka.
As a director, she made her debut at the Warsaw Singer festival in 2006 with “Cyjanide at Five” by Pavel Kohout. She also directed “Nuremberg” by Wojciech Tomczyk (Polski Theatre in Bielsko-Biała), “The Suitcase” by Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk (Żydowski Theatre in Warsaw); she was also the assistant director for Television Theatre productions: “Cryptonym Player” and “Operational Games,” both scripted and directed by Agnieszka Lipiec-Wróblewska, in which she appeared as an actor. She has performed in numerous Polish Radio productions, and as a dubbing actor for film.
In 2011, she won a competition to become vice-artistic director of the Zagłębie Theatre in Sosnowiec. During her time at the Zagłębie Theatre, many of the plays that were staged there gained recognition on the Polish scene, including “Things Are Good Between Us” directed by Piotr Ratajczak, “Korzeniec,” and “Horse, Woman, and Canary” directed by Remigiusz Brzyk. On the stage of the Zagłębie Theatre she performed in Łukasz Kos’ “Bobiczek” (she was nominated for Złota Maska for her role as Szracja), Remigiusz Brzyk’s “Horse, Woman, and Canary,” and Tomasz Śpiewak’s “Royal Hall.” In 2016-2020 Dorota Ignatjew was head and artistic director of the Juliusz Osterwa Theatre in Lublin, then vice-director at the Żydowski Theatre in Warsaw. Directly prior to being hired at the national stage in Krakow, she served as director of the Nowy Theatre in Łódź. Under her direction, the stages in Lublin and in Łódź vaulted to the forefront of Poland’s theatres, earning high spots in the Polish theatre rankings and receiving invitations to numerous theatre festivals.
Vice-Director of Artistic Affairs
Jakub
Skrzywanek
A director, playwright, and creator of performative installations, since September 1, 2024 he has served as the vice artistic director at the Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theatre in Krakow. He graduated from the Theatre Directing Department at the Theatre Academy in Krakow, Polish Literature at Wrocław University, and a DOKPRO course at the Wajda Master’s School. From January 2022 to late August 2024 he was vice artistic director at the Współczesny Theatre in Szczecin.
Jakub Skrzywanek has won some of the most important theatre prizes. His debut production, “Zinc Boys” at the Dramatyczny Theatre in Wałbrzych, received the Grand Prix at the First Contact Festival in Toruń during the Koszalin Young Confrontations Festival (2017). For directing “The Death of John Paul II” at the Polski Theatre in Poznań, he received the Konrad Laurels, the main prize at the 21st Interpretations Polish Theatre Directors Festival in Katowice, and an award at the International Divine Comedy Festival (2022) for his original approach to the theme of the production. The director’s artistic accomplishments were recognized in 2022 when he was awarded the Polityka Passport in the Theatre category. Jakub Skrzywanek’s plays have been covered by the New York Times, Financial Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Jerusalem Post, and L’Espresso.
He has also been acknowledged for his scriptwriting. His dramas “The Pimp Pogrom: Warsaw 1905” and “We Are the Future!” made it to the semi-finals of the Gdynia Dramaturgical Awards. “Girls from the Underground,” based on interviews with female Afghan refugees, was performed at the legendary Ilkhom Theatre in Tashkent, where it got a highly emotional reception.
In January 2022, he became the artistic director at the Współczesny Theatre in Szczecin, thus becoming the youngest theatre director in Poland. In creating this institution’s artistic profile, he worked to discover young female artists and seek out new languages for the theatre. His motto for this stint was “Theatre that listens,” signalling the need to create a living dialogue between theatre and audiences and connect the work on stage with social and educational activities.
Jakub Skrzywanek was the Artistic Director of the 57th International Counterpoint Theatre Festival. He regularly collaborates with Estonia’s Vaba Lava Theatre, where he creates the program, inviting interesting artists from across Central Europe.
Vice Director of Technical and Administrative Affairs
Dariusz
Barszczewski
Dariusz Barszczewski
Contact: tel. 12 421 29 77 (office)
Barszczewski is an architectural engineer, a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture and City Planning at Krakow Polytechnic (1994) with postgraduate studies in International Investment Organisation Procedures based on the FIDIC at the Wrocław University of Technology (2019). In 2015–21 he worked at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow as the vice director of the Economics and Administration Department, and then as the Head Investments Specialist.
Previously (in 2008–15), he ran his own architectural bureau, developing projects for private individuals and working with large partners, both private and budget institutions.
In 1996–2008 he held various posts at the PPU ILKUS Co. Ltd. construction company, moving up from production specialist to vice director.
He has finished a wide range of professional courses, in finance, contracts, public commissions law, and periodic building management.
Head Accountant
Edyta
Leszczyńska
Edyta Leszczyńska
Contact: tel. 12 421 77 33 (office)
Director's Representative for International Cooperation and Development
Dorota
Semenowicz
Dorota Semenowicz
dorota.semenowicz@stary.pl
Dorota Semenowicz is a curator, theatre scholar, dramaturg, and doctor of the humanities. In 2009–2023 she curated the Malta Festival Poznań. In 2009–2017 she worked in the literature department of Warsaw’s National Theatre. Since autumn 2024, she has served as Dorota Ignatjew’s head of international cooperation and development at the National Stary Theatre. She graduated from the Paris III Sorbonne-Nouvelle University (theatre studies, literature) in France, receiving her Doctorate at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (2013). She is a lecturer at the Theatre Academy in Warsaw. She has published This Is Not an Image: Romeo Castellucci and Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio (2013, English version 2016) and The Mechanics of a Scandal (2023). She has edited collective works and written articles on contemporary performative arts. As a dramaturg, she has mainly worked with Maciej Podstawny. She has also made the Doctor Faustus musical installation with Romeo Castellucci. She is the mother of two girls, seven-year-old Jana and four-year-old Helena.
Office
Monika Chyla – Assistant
tel. 12 421 29 77 ; tel. 12 422 80 20 lub 12 422 85 66, wew. 110 fax 12 421 33 53 e-mail: sekretariat@stary.pl