Theatre of Transformation is an international project created within the framework of the ESK 2029 Lublin Re:Union program. It combines scientific research, knowledge exchange, education, theatrical practice, publishing activity, performances, and the creation of a performative archive. Together with a new generation of artists – by creating opportunities for encounters with directors, actors, performers, and teachers who had the chance to work with Jerzy Grotowski – we aim to test and update the ideas and practices of the Theatre of Transformation.
On the sixtieth anniversary of the premiere of Grotowski’s last production, Apocalypsis cum figuris, Lublin – with its unique cultural history – seems to be the right place to ask about the value and strength of this tradition (rooted in the Polish Romantic theatrical heritage, of which Grotowski was both the fulfillment and the most outstanding modern representative) and about the possibilities of continuing this tradition in the postmodern, globalized world of the 21st century.
We also wish – by invoking the broadly understood notion of Transformation – to make Lublin a place of regular meetings of philosophers, anthropologists, scholars of religion, and researchers of diverse traditions of cultural performance. Through a cycle of seminars and two major international conferences with the participation of leading global authorities, we will inquire into fundamental categories of the European cultural sphere: transformation, metamorphosis, transfiguration, metanoia.
In times of multidimensional crisis, affecting not only theatre and culture but also the entire civilizational model of community life inherited from previous generations – a model based on subjectivity and interpersonal relations – we want to ask about possible countermeasures, about remedies. Together with artistic communities and groups identifying with the tradition of the Theatre of Transformation, we want to recognize what is truly valuable and inalienable within it, what carries the potential and qualities of a remedy – and pass it on to future generations.
Lublin, 26.06.2025.
Working meeting of the Theatre of Transformation project team:
Tomasz Rodowicz (Chorea, Łódź),
Prof. Dariusz Kosiński (Jagiellonian University, Kraków),
Paweł Passini (neTTheatre, ESK Lublin 2029),
Grzegorz Kondrasiuk (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, ESK Lublin 2029).
