“Theater Window to Europe” – Marek Kościółek to give training classes to the theater students in three cities of Ukraine

With the support of the Polish Consulate General in Kharkiv and the Instytut Polski in Kyiv, the Theatre na Zhukah will hold its regular project in the series of the Theater Window to Europe on September 14 through September 21, with Marek Kościółek, director and manager of the Teatr Krzyk (Poland), together with actor Marcin Pławski will give training classes to the Ukrainian theater students in Kharkiv, Dnipro and Kyiv.

Marek Kościółek is a prominent representative of the Polish theater school and an active participant of numerous projects around the world who regularly gives master classes. He honed his skills under the guidance of Włodzimierz Staniewski, the founder of the famous Polish Teatr Gardzienice, whose tutor was none the other but the great Jerzy Grotowski. Following the traditions of his predecessors, Marek Kościółek works with the actors, bringing his own ideas into the process, so his training courses are largely based on the original methods.

As a production director, Marek Kościółek is known in Poland thanks to his endlessly honest and tough plays staged in the Teatr Krzyk as they always resonate with the pressing problems in public life, be it the conflict of generations (the Exhale), or political problems (street performance Nord Stream about the gas pipe as a weapon wielded by the Putin regime that helps corrupt the Western society). Krzyk staged its plays at the most important festivals of alternative theater in Poland, much to the enthusiastic acclaim of the public, earning positive reviews of the critics. The theater brought home the awards of the Malta International Festival (Poznan), Theater Encounters in Łodz, Art Festival of the Academic Youth in Swinoujscie, etc.

“Marek and our team have know each other for years. We have attended to his training courses and we know full well that each class with this professional is an exciting adventure. It was Marek who we started our “Window” project with. Unfortunately, back then he was able to give just one master class – and only in Kharkiv. It earned him a standing ovation from the theater students: to get a hands-on experience of a different school under the guidance of such an Energizer coach as Marek, that was truly mind-blowing. Ever since, we have completed a lot of similar projects but our biggest dream was to make a grand tour in several cities with the maestro. Luckily, the stars aligned this year: the Polish Consulate General and the Instytut Polski provided their assistance, and now Marek and his assistant and actor Marcin Pławski will give classes in Kharkiv, Dnipro and Kyiv”, says Dmytro Ternovyi, project manager of the Theater Window To Europe.

The project is scheduled from September 14 and through September 21, with two master classes, each three hours long, to be held in each higher education institution. Students of the Theater Department of Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts (September 14 and September 17), Dnipro College of Theater and Arts (September 18 and September 19), and Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts (September 20 and September 21). There will be an additional training class at Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (September 15) and joint classes in the Theatre na Zhukah (September 15) and the Verim! Theater in Dnipro (September 18).

Launched by the Theatre na Zhukah in 2011, the Theater Window to Europe program aims to acquaint the Ukrainian theater students with the contemporary European theater schools by way of practical classes provided by the professionals representing these schools. The program involves theater schools of Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv. The program also promoted prior projects involving representatives of theaters in Poland, Germany, France, U.K. and Georgia.