location: TW Malarnia, Teatralna 2, 80-836 Gdańsk
duration: 60 min
Meeting in Polish.

Dorota Bielska and Jarek Rebeliński, who run the Razem (Together) Theatre for people with intellectual disabilities, invite you to a directing workshop during which they will:

• Discuss, using examples, the basic topics, problems, difficulties and specific aspects of artistic work with people with disabilities and take up the subject of art created by people with disabilities and their right to be artists
• Analyse Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in terms of love impossible to fulfil due to external circumstances
• Demonstrate the process of creating an interpretation of a work in the context of a group performing on stage
• Discuss the basic directing tools—their similarities and differences in working with various types of non-professional acting groups
• Answer participants’ questions

Dorota Bielska
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Theatrical director, theatrologist, certified art therapist, the author of a book titled “Łączę światy” (“Combining worlds,”) lecturer of theatre art at the University of Łódź AST in Wrocław, scholar of Ministry of Culture and National Heritage’s “Civic Activity” programme, director of the Cultural Centre in Siechnice in 2014/2016, deputy director of the Poleski Art Centre in Łódź in 2017/2018. She underwent several years of self-work workshops with drama and psychodrama methods. In 2017 she received the title of “Extraordinary Woman” during Extraordinary Women’s Week in Łódź. The last premiere: “You Are Approaching My Loneliness,” based on “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare / Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre / October 2022

Jarosław Rebeliński
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Trainer, theatrologist, drama and theatre educator and certified art therapist. Graduate of the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw. Completed several courses concerning drama (drama educator) and Theatre’s Forum course (The Drama Way Foundation). Took part in the “More than Theatre” project (Jerzy Grotowski Institute). In 2018 he began working with Polish Theatre Playback 3.0, combing theatrical and psychodrama techniques. He conducts art therapy classes for people with intellectual disabilities. He has been a director of Razem Theatre for 19 years and has been a manager of Theatre in Gdańsk Archipelago of Culture for 10 years. A former lecturer at pedagogical departments in private universities. Drama trainer and theatrical director in Forum Theatre, the Drama Way Foundation.

Dorota Bielska and Jarek Rebeliński form a duo named YouArt since 2019, which engages in artistic and social projects.

Razem Theatre is a group of actresses and actors with disabilities. It has been in an artistic residency in Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre since January of 2022, creating performances in collaboration with the theatre. “You Are Approaching My Loneliness” based on “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, premiered on the 1st of October 2022 and is regularly performed on the GST stage.

GROUP SIZE: UP TO 15
Cost: PLN60 (purchase via the GST website)

“Hamlet. The dance of the melancholic.” by Shakespeare Flamenco artists from Spain.
Location: Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre
duration: 90 min

An open rehearsal is a unique opportunity to look behind the scenes of the theatre and see the actors and the director at work. The participants will observe how the performance is created. There will also be time for a short Q&A session.

Meeting in English without an interpreter.
Rehearsal in Spanish.

KINO Kameralne Cafe z Szekspirem
Location: Kino Kameralne Cafe, ul. Lektykarska 4, Gdańsk

“Łódź Kaliska. The classics of the absurd”

A Monty Python style history of Łódź Kaliska’s phenomenon – one of the greatest avant-garde artistic groups in Poland continuously working for 44 years. The story is created using rich archives from the time of the artistic bloom of the group, that is videos of breakthrough and most controversial happenings and works which showcased the absurdity of life in PRL Poland. In interviews, the members of the group and its fans comment on the historical footage. The included animations stylistically match the surrealist profile of the group.

Location: Malarnia, Teatr Wybrzeże, ul. Teatralna 2, Gdańsk
Duration: 60 min

Meeting in Polish

location: GTS – Scena Magazyn, Wojciecha Bogusławskiego 1, 80-818 Gdańsk
duration: 60 min
Meeting in Spanish, translated into Polish.

This three-day workshop will connect the worlds of Shakespeare with the politics and pressures of our contemporary world and with our festival’s motto and quotation from King Lear: “This is the excellent foppery of the world!” The participants will initially be coached in team building and group work. They will then spend time creating specific features of a performance: images, scenes, text fragments and script. Together, as a group, they will weave these fragments into a whole, ready to be shown to the audience.

The workshop is addressed to participants who are more advanced in active participation in one of the fields of art (theatre, visual arts, music, literature). The three workshop days will be followed by a post-workshop performance to which you can invite your family and friends free of charge.

Workshop in English only, with no interpretation into Polish. For ages 16 and over

Cost per whole 3 days: PLN120 (purchase via the GST website). Group size: 15 for now

Location: Kino Kameralne Cafe, ul. Lektykarska 4, Gdańsk

“Romeo and Juliet”
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Romeo and Juliet risk everything to be together against the animosity between their families. A sudden outburst of violence destroys every dream of future happiness. In this bold production, the space (stage and backstage) of the National Theatre plays a significant role. It is where the characters wander in dreams driven by desire and fate, which gives Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy a completely new and original tone. The titular lovers are played by Jessie Buckley (“Chernobyl,” “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” “The Lost Daughter”) and Josh O’Connor (“The Crown,” “God’s Own Country”). The star-studded cast includes Tamsin Greig, Fisayo Akinade, Adrian Lester, Lucian Msamati and Deborah Findlay.

Location: GTS – Biblioteka im. Jerzego Limona, Wojciecha Bogusławskiego 1, Gdańsk
Free entry
Meeting in English with no interpreter.

Promotion of the book “Shakespeare on European Festival Stages” (published in December 2021)

The first such book to describe the presence of Shakespeare at festivals across continental Europe. It analyses the role of festivals in European socio-cultural exchange and the influence they have on wider production and the circulation of staged Shakespeare across the continent.

The collection offers descriptions of Shakespeare’s performances during the following festivals: Festival in Avignon and Le Printemps des comédiens in Montpellier (France), Almagro festival (Spain), Shakespeare at Four Castles (Czech Republic and Slovakia), International Shakespeare Festival in Craiova (Romania), Shakespeare festivals in Elsinore (Denmark), Gdansk (Poland), Gyula (Hungary), Itaka (Serbia), Neuss (Germany), Patalenitsa (Bulgaria), Rome and Verona (Italy).

“Shakespeare on European Festival Stages” is a book for students, academics and practitioners interested in Shakespeare on stage, in translation and post-national Shakespeare with no borders and who belongs to all of Europe.

Special guest (co-author and co-editor of the publication): prof. Nicoleta Cinpoes (University of Worcester, UK)

Host: dr Anna Kowalcze-Pawlik (University of Łódź)

You can order the book directly from the publisher.

location: Opera Bałtycka – Foyer, Aleja Zwycięstwa 15, 80-219 Gdańsk
duration: 60 min
Meeting in Polish.

location: TW Malarnia, Teatralna 2, 80-836 Gdańsk
duration: 60 min
Meeting in Polish.

For young actors and directors (16+)

Masterclass will be led in Ukrainian and English language, with no translation into Polish.

Location: TW Stara Apteka, Teatralna 4, 80-382 Gdańsk
Duration: 60 min

Meeting in Polish.

Location: TW Scena Kameralna, Bohaterów Monte Cassino 30, Sopot
Duration: 60 min

Meeting in Polish.

Join us for a talk not only to follow the performance but also to follow the night. After you wake up in the morning. After some time to think at leisure about what you saw the day before. The excitement has already subsided but some meanings are still making rounds in your mind. New questions arise: “What do I make of what I saw?” or “What feelings have stayed with me?” Sometimes you want to talk to someone. Relive it. Still fresh but no longer hot. With coffee.

Join us for a morning meeting in the courtyard of the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre, during which Dr Adam Jagiełło-Rusiłowski and Dr Maria Fengler will sit down with each other and with the public and, pure and simple, start talking about The Tempest, directed by Peter Brook, watched the previous day. And anyone who wants to reflect on it may take a seat and join the conversation at any time.

Take part in the conversation free of charge. You can buy coffee, tea and snacks at the festival bar.

location: Klub Żak, Aleja Grunwaldzka 195/197, 80-266 Gdańsk
duration: 60 min
Meeting in Polish.

location: Gdańsk Miasto Literatury, Długa 35, 80-827 Gdańsk
duration: 60 min
Meeting in English, translated into Polish.

In the GST Courtyard at 10:00 (if the weather fails us, the location may change) Join us for a talk not only to follow the performance but also to follow the night. After you wake up in the morning. After some time to think at leisure about what you saw the day before. The excitement has already subsided but some meanings are still making rounds in your mind. New questions arise: “What do I make of what I saw?” or “What feelings have stayed with me?” Sometimes you want to talk to someone. Relive it. Still fresh but no longer hot. With coffee. Join us for a morning meeting in the courtyard of the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre, during which Prof. Jacek Fabiszak and Dr Anna Kowalcze-Pawlik will sit down with each other and with the public and, pure and simple, start talking about Billy’s Joy by Needcompany, watched the previous day. And anyone who wants to reflect on it may take a seat and join the conversation at any time.

Take part in the conversation free of charge. You can buy coffee, tea and snacks at the festival bar.

Location: Kameralne Café Cinema, Lektykarska 4, 80-831 Gdańsk

“Much Ado About Nothing”
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Katherine Parkinson (“The IT Crowd”) and John Heffernan (“Dracula”) in Shakespeare’s romantic comedy of errors, sunny with seascapes and complicated romantic relationships.

Iconic Hotel Messina is a family business situated by the beautiful Italian coastline. It’s a place that attracts tourists, artists, celebrities and members of the royal family. But when the owner’s daughter marries a handsome young soldier it turns out that not all hotel guests like the romantic atmosphere. A scandal surrounds not only the newlyweds but also two loners – Beatrice and Benedick, who have an unusual relationship.

After the success of “Romeo and Juliet,” “Twelfth Night” and “Antony and Cleopatra,” the director Simon Godwin returns to the stage of the National Theatre with a new irresistibly charming comedy.