From Residency to Stage. How Willa Decjusza Consistently Supports Artists and Brings Their Work to the Public 20.12.2025
At Willa Decjusza, culture does not happen by chance. Nothing here is accidental, temporary, or done “just because.” Ideas are developed, texts are given time and space, and artists receive real, long-term support. A perfect example of this approach is the Marathon of Dramatic Miniatures, taking place on 20 December at 7:00 PM at the Machinery Building of the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków. This event did not appear out of nowhere. It grew out of a carefully designed creative process.
Residencies as a Starting Point – Not a Final Goal
The screenwriting and playwriting residencies hosted at Willa Decjusza as part of the Forum of Cultural Dialogue. Residencies for Screenwriters and Playwrights are much more than “a month of writing in a beautiful place.” They are a deliberately structured stage of artistic work, where time, focus, and an international context matter just as much as the final outcome.
In October and November, Willa Decjusza hosted playwrights from Poland, Germany, Turkey, and Ukraine. Each of them was given a clear task: to write a short dramatic text or fragment of a play within one month. There was no pressure to produce a finished performance—but there was a shared understanding that the texts would continue their journey. And that is exactly what happened.
Four miniatures were created:
Ewa Bembenek – Ł or a bissl troszkę
Jäckie Rydz – LAVA
Fâtıma Çalışkan – Smoking for Kraków
Lena Lagunshkova – Lisa in Heaven Holding a Rauchtopaz
Each text brings a distinct voice, sensibility, and cultural background. Together, they form a polyphonic whole that perfectly reflects the idea behind the Forum of Cultural Dialogue.
The Next Step: Meeting Young Directors
At this point, many institutions might say: “mission accomplished.” At Willa Decjusza, this is only halfway through.
The texts were drawn at random by four directing students from the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków and the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy in Białystok:
Lada Borovska
Kamila Kucia
Julia Lange
Piotr Sędkowski
They were given full creative freedom—no instructions, no imposed interpretations. Just one simple rule: do whatever you want with the text. This is the moment when literature starts to breathe on stage, and young directors enter a genuine dialogue with fresh, contemporary dramatic material.
The Result: A Public Showing at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre
The outcome of this process is the Marathon of Dramatic Miniatures—four short stage forms presented in a single evening, in one place, in partnership with the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków. Not in a rehearsal room. Not just “for the industry.” But for a general audience.
This is crucial: resident artists are not confined to a closed institutional circuit. Their work reaches the stage of one of Poland’s most important theatres. Text → interpretation → performance. Clear, honest, and consistent.
Strategy Instead of Coincidence
This model of work is not a one-off initiative. It is part of a long-term, complementary strategy developed jointly by the Willa Decjusza Association and the Willa Decjusza Institute of Culture.
The Association designs residency programmes, international networks, and long-term relationships with artists.
The Institute provides institutional, production, and programme support, ensuring that the outcomes of residency work are visible, accessible, and truly present in the cultural landscape.
Together, they create an ecosystem in which artists do not disappear after a programme ends, and artistic works do not remain hidden in a PDF file.
Invitation
If you want to see what culture looks like when it is built around process rather than just results—join us for the Marathon of Dramatic Miniatures.
If you are interested in contemporary drama, emerging directors, and texts at the very beginning of their theatrical journey—this event is for you.
And if you like to know where things come from and where they are heading—this evening is exactly about that.
20 December, 7:00 PM
Machinery Building, Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków
Tickets: [CLICK]
The screenwriting and playwriting residencies hosted at Willa Decjusza as part of the Forum of Cultural Dialogue. Residencies for Screenwriters and Playwrights are much more than “a month of writing in a beautiful place.” They are a deliberately structured stage of artistic work, where time, focus, and an international context matter just as much as the final outcome.
In October and November, Willa Decjusza hosted playwrights from Poland, Germany, Turkey, and Ukraine. Each of them was given a clear task: to write a short dramatic text or fragment of a play within one month. There was no pressure to produce a finished performance—but there was a shared understanding that the texts would continue their journey. And that is exactly what happened.
Four miniatures were created:
Ewa Bembenek – Ł or a bissl troszkę
Jäckie Rydz – LAVA
Fâtıma Çalışkan – Smoking for Kraków
Lena Lagunshkova – Lisa in Heaven Holding a Rauchtopaz
Each text brings a distinct voice, sensibility, and cultural background. Together, they form a polyphonic whole that perfectly reflects the idea behind the Forum of Cultural Dialogue.
The Next Step: Meeting Young Directors
At this point, many institutions might say: “mission accomplished.” At Willa Decjusza, this is only halfway through.
The texts were drawn at random by four directing students from the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków and the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy in Białystok:
Lada Borovska
Kamila Kucia
Julia Lange
Piotr Sędkowski
They were given full creative freedom—no instructions, no imposed interpretations. Just one simple rule: do whatever you want with the text. This is the moment when literature starts to breathe on stage, and young directors enter a genuine dialogue with fresh, contemporary dramatic material.
The Result: A Public Showing at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre
The outcome of this process is the Marathon of Dramatic Miniatures—four short stage forms presented in a single evening, in one place, in partnership with the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków. Not in a rehearsal room. Not just “for the industry.” But for a general audience.
This is crucial: resident artists are not confined to a closed institutional circuit. Their work reaches the stage of one of Poland’s most important theatres. Text → interpretation → performance. Clear, honest, and consistent.
Strategy Instead of Coincidence
This model of work is not a one-off initiative. It is part of a long-term, complementary strategy developed jointly by the Willa Decjusza Association and the Willa Decjusza Institute of Culture.
The Association designs residency programmes, international networks, and long-term relationships with artists.
The Institute provides institutional, production, and programme support, ensuring that the outcomes of residency work are visible, accessible, and truly present in the cultural landscape.
Together, they create an ecosystem in which artists do not disappear after a programme ends, and artistic works do not remain hidden in a PDF file.
Invitation
If you want to see what culture looks like when it is built around process rather than just results—join us for the Marathon of Dramatic Miniatures.
If you are interested in contemporary drama, emerging directors, and texts at the very beginning of their theatrical journey—this event is for you.
And if you like to know where things come from and where they are heading—this evening is exactly about that.
20 December, 7:00 PM
Machinery Building, Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków
Tickets: [CLICK]