The Witkacy Award is an annual distinction presented to a foreigner for their contributions to promoting Polish theatre worldwide. It was first awarded in 1983. Outstanding figures in Polish culture nominate candidates, and a special committee—composed of representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, and the Polish Centre of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) — selects the winner. They are bestowed with a work of art by a Polish artist and are granted a scholarship to Poland to engage in meetings with the Polish theatre community, attend performances, and participate in cultural events. Such visits often involve participation in a major theatre festival: this year, it is the Boska Komedia / Divine Comedy International Theatre Festival in Kraków.
MEETINGS
8 December
6:00pm – Meeting with this year's Winner, Soren Gauger, at the ZASP Club, Rynek Główny (Main Market Square) 41. The meeting will be hosted by Ewa Bal.
9 December
Online meetings with winners from 2019–21 at the House of Utopia (the hall on the 2nd floor). Join the discussions with Koichi Kuyama, Michael Hackett, and José Gabriel López Antuñano in person at the House of Utopia or online through the Polish ITI Facebook page.
12:00pm – conversation with Koichi Kuyama, hosted by Estera Żeromska – remote connection with Japan.
3:00pm – conversation with José Gabriel López Antuñano, hosted by Jarosław Bielski – remote connection with Spain.
6:30pm – conversation with Michael Hackett, hosted by Joanna Klass – remote connection with the US.
THE WINNERS PAST AND PRESENT
Koichi Kuyama – holds a PhD in humanities from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Since 2012, he has worked at the Polish Institute in Tokyo as an expert in theatre, cinema, and the Polish language. Author of the study on Mickiewicz poetry (Sonety Mickiewicza a sonet rosyjski w dobie romantyzmu), he has published over 40 scientific articles in Slavic philology, comparative literature, and film and theatre studies. His extensive body of translations includes the Japanese versions of works by Adam Mickiewicz, Stanisław Lem, and Cyprian Kamil Norwid. He has also made Japanese subtitles for over 40 Polish films, including Andrzej Wajda’s Ashes and Diamonds and Pan Tadeusz, Krzysztof Krauze’s The Debt and Saviour Square, and Borys Lankosz’s The Reverse.
José Gabriel López Antuñano – holds a PhD in Romance Philology, is a full professor of dramaturgy and theatre studies at the Higher School of Dramatic Art of Castile and León in Valladolid (since 2006), serves as the director and lecturer in theatrical arts at the International University of La Rioja (since 2014), and teaches theatre and performing arts at the Madrid Theatre Institute (Instituto de Teatro Madrid, ITEM) and the Complutense University in Madrid (since 2013). He was a consultant for the International Kontakt Festival in Toruń. The culmination of his work as the author of numerous analytical and critical texts published in major Spanish theatrical journals is his latest book, La escena del siglo XXI (The 21st-Century Stage), in which he dedicates three chapters to Polish artists: Krystian Lupa, Krzysztof Warlikowski, and Jan Klata.
Michael Hackett – is a director, producer, and professor at the UCLA in Los Angeles. He has inspired numerous valuable initiatives, projects, and connections aimed at promoting Polish theatre and culture in the United States. He was a co-translator of Zbigniew Raszewski's book Teatr w świecie widowisk into English, invited Polish theatre researchers and practitioners to lecture at the UCLA, and directed productions of Witkacy’s and Gombrowicz's plays in Los Angeles. The plays he has directed include two productions with Barbara Krafftówna in the leading roles: Biesiada u hrabiny Kotłubaj (A Feast at Countess Kotlubay) at the UCLA Laboratory for Theatre Research and Medytacja o Dziewictwie (Meditations on Virginity). Both were also staged in Poland. He has interviewed many Polish artists in public forums, classes, seminars, and in residencies and workshops.
Soren Gauger – is a Canadian writer and translator residing in Kraków, known for his translations of Polish literature into English. He has translated works by Bruno Jasieński, Jerzy Ficowski, and Wojciech Jagielski, as well as Narkotyki and excerpts from Witkiewicz's Pożegnanie jesieni.
Project co-financed by Zbigniew Raszewski Theater Institute.
