In this episode, Simon Mundy meets Bartosz Szydłowski, Director of the Divine Comedy International Theatre Festival.

The theatre festival runs in Krakow in Poland from 8 till 16 December 2023.

The 16th edition of the Divine Comedy International Theatre Festival in Krakow is 9 days of strong artistic impressions, a real dialogue between creators of different generations, origins and worldviews.

This year’s Divine Comedy is held under the slogan “Landscape After the Battle”. Recent years have been a time of countless and constant Polish battles – for free courts and free media, for women’s rights, for minority rights, and for the independence of cultural institutions. These battles took place in parliamentary benches, in churches, in front of courts, and also on the streets. They also took place on stages, because the theater, like a lens, reflects the state of contemporary society. We are coming out of this war extremely tired, battered and polarized as a community. We are fed up with the radicalization of the language of public debate and the devastating tension we have been living in for a long time. The performances shown at the Divine Comedy reflect this “landscape after the battle” and may not analyze the causes that led to it, but they are a testimony of the times and strategies of survival in the country of the cultural war unleashed by ideologized politicians. In each of them we can find a perspective of overcoming, a path to hearts, understanding and hope that illuminates the darkness.

These are over 20 performances from Poland and abroad, including 7 in the INFERNO main competition, selected by a 5-person group of selectors. The winner will take with them the Divine Comedian statuette, and the selection will be made by a jury composed of critics, curators and festival selectors from 6 countries: USA, Chile, Turkey, India, Italy and Switzerland. 

More info: boskakomedia.pl