We would like to proudly announce that the National Stary Theatre has been named winner of the Radio Krakow Superbrand for 2021!

The Jury composed of Magdalena Szumiec, Łukasz Gazur, Krzysztof Glondys, Joanna Targoń, and Justyna Nowicka singled out two plays at the National Stary Theatre: “Halka” directed by Anna Smolar and “3SISTERS” directed by Luk Perceval.

“We greatly appreciated two plays staged at the National Stary Theatre that premiered in 2021: ‘3SISTERS’ directed by Luk Perceval and ‘Halka’ directed by Anna Smolar. Perceval’s play is a co-production between TR Warsaw and the National Stary Theatre. The Stary Theatre survived a major crisis and came out in 2021 showing its strength, outstanding acting, and the presently invaluable ability to work in co-productions,” said the Jurors.

Perceval, a Belgian director who is among the most important contemporary figures in the European theatre, was making his first play in Poland. As he stressed, in adapting Chekhov’s drama he was primarily searching for metaphors. “This production based on motifs in Anton Chekhov’s drama is a portrait of an aging Europe that does not wish to surrender to the passing of time. The heroines of the title yearn not for Moscow, but for a bygone past. A journey to Moscow has ceased to be a problem ever since you can fly there for 99 euro. But the cheap airlines don’t fly to the past, you can only get there on board your own, fallible memory….”

Can the story of Moniuszko’s “Halka” really be retold? Can we give her a voice, showing the dynamics of the relationships between the characters on stage? This task was brilliantly taken up by one of Poland’s most fascinating theatre directors, Anna Smolar, in her play at the Duża Stage of the National Stary Theatre. After years of staging her own dramas, Smolar dips into a Polish classic. “The opera intrigued me, but also triggered a sense of rebellion,” she said before the premiere. The jurors of Superbrand RK appreciated her fresh reading of a classic and the intriguing form of the play.

Our warmest congratulations to the creators and cast of both plays!