The year 2025 at the National Stary Theatre unfolded like a densely notated musical score — from seven monumental premieres, through 400 performances presented across four stages, to intimate encounters filled with powerful accents. It was a year of surprising stories, profound emotions, and a shared reflection on the future, where art meets everyday life.

None of this, however, would have been possible without our audiences, who filled the theatre rows to capacity. In 2025, over 65,000 spectators devoted their time and energy to us, along with 11,000 visitors to MICET. Thank you for being with us.

Premieres

We opened the year 2025 with Luk Perceval’s monumental Sex, Money and Hunger — a family chronicle inspired by Émile Zola, exploring the inheritance of poverty, addiction, and madness. A story about what happens when the most fundamental social unit, the family, begins to disintegrate. Remaining within the sphere of close human relationships, we entrusted the space of the Chamber Stage to Katarzyna Minkowska — nominated for the Polityka Passport in the Theatre category — who presented a full emotional spectrum in Scenes from a Marriage, based on Ingmar Bergman’s renowned text.

These family narratives were complemented by the exceptionally warm, tender, and humorous The Bankruptcy of Little Jack, based on Janusz Korczak’s novel and directed by Maciej Podstawny, aimed at school-age audiences. This production — about the human side of money, friendship, and growing up — was presented both on the Stary Theatre stage and in locations with limited access to culture, as part of the initiative “The Theatre Is Yours! – Redutowa Stage of the National Stary Theatre.”

As befits a national stage, our interests also encompassed grand narratives — national myths, social traumas, and collective mourning. An extraordinary perspective on how we perceive ourselves as Poles and which vision of history we identify with was offered by Anna Obszańska in The Haunted Manor, based on the libretto of Stanisław Moniuszko’s famous opera and expressed through music and choreography. Jakub Skrzywanek likewise stepped beyond the familiar image of Poland as a nation burdened and imprisoned by the past. In The Assassination of the National Stary Theatre. The Birth of a Nation, fake news intertwines with reality, and the individual experience of grief, guilt, and despair becomes a hostage of the entire nation.

A re-examination of established beliefs, the search for new meanings, and the unsettling of history were also at the heart of The Revision of the Trial of Jesus, the theatrical work and directorial debut of the outstanding visual artist Katarzyna Kozyra, created together with Krysia Bednarek. Kozyra herself — along with one of her most controversial artworks — became the protagonist of Michał Borczuch’s The Pyramid of Animals, which, through the lens of Polish critical art, reflects on the political transformation and, above all, on whether we are capable of making use of the freedom we have fought to attain.

Around the Theatre

The year 2025 also brought an abundance of accompanying events. As part of the Dramaturgical Residencies programme, artists received scholarships and substantive support, while the outcomes of their work — as well as the results of the playwriting workshops The Year 2081 — were presented to audiences in the form of readings and adaptations. Participants grappled with questions about the future of freedom and security, and their creative reflections are available in the anthology The Year 2081, which has expanded the National Stary Theatre’s publishing catalogue. Selected plays were also presented during the October review of contemporary dramaturgy Possible Worlds, organised in collaboration with the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Kraków.

This year we also launched the Dance Salon — a space dedicated to the body, dance, and diverse forms of movement, accessible to people both with and without prior experience, as well as to people with disabilities. The programme included WenDo, Silent Disco, Kids Rave, and the Queer Ball. The name of the cycle references the legendary Kraków Poetry Salon founded by Anna Dymna, which celebrated its 23rd anniversary and, like the Dance Salon, takes place primarily in the ballroom of the Modrzejewska Hall.

The year 2025 also marked a celebration for MICET — the Interactive Museum and Centre for Theatre Education — which celebrated its tenth anniversary and continues to invite audiences to creative play, from costume design and stage improvisation to workshops for young people, adults, and organised groups.

International

International collaboration and artistic exchange were made possible thanks to the support of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. This year saw the beginning of rehearsals for Still Lifes, directed by Elsa Revcolevschi — a French director of Polish-Jewish heritage and the first international resident artist in the theatre’s history. Work with the acting ensemble was also initiated by François Chaignaud — a choreographer and performer blending operetta, cabaret, and drag — as well as Singaporean director Choy Ka Fai, who explores the future of the body in art. Philippe Quesne also led workshops with the ensemble as part of preparations for a premiere scheduled for 2027.

Photo: HaWa