Marathon of Dramatic Miniatures – from text to stage, from process to encounter 31.12.2025
The Marathon of Dramatic Miniatures marked the culmination of a process that began several months earlier within the residency programme at Willa Decjusza. Rather than closing a creative chapter, the event opened it up to further circulation—on stage, in public space, and through dialogue. The four short theatrical forms presented at the Teatr im. Juliusza Słowackiego w Krakowie demonstrated how consistent work with new dramatic texts can lead to a meaningful encounter with audiences.
The starting point was the screenwriting and playwriting residencies held at Willa Decjusza as part of the Forum of Cultural Dialogue. Residencies for Screenwriters and Playwrights. During this time, playwrights from Poland, Germany, Turkey, and Ukraine worked in Kraków, creating short dramatic texts—distinct worlds shaped by different languages and experiences, yet united by a shared need to reflect on contemporary reality.
Four miniatures emerged from this process:
These texts then became the basis for further creative work. They were randomly assigned to young directors—students of the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków and the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy in Białystok. Each director was given complete artistic freedom, resulting in four distinct, authorial stage forms.
The miniatures were directed by:
On the stage of the Machinery Building, young artists, actors, new dramatic texts, and audiences came together—without intermediaries or shortcuts. For the playwrights, the presentation at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre offered a genuine opportunity to confront their work with a live audience. For the directors and actors, it was a chance to engage with entirely new dramatic material, still unshaped by theatrical convention.
An important role in this process was played by the Instytut Kultury Willa Decjusza, which—together with the Willa Decjusza Association—has been consistently developing a model of work that goes beyond one-off projects. Here, residencies do not end with the completion of a text, and events are never treated as goals in themselves. Each stage opens the door to the next: collaboration, reinterpretation, and an expanded visibility for artists.
The Marathon of Dramatic Miniatures showed that culture needs open spaces—free, direct, and international. Spaces that do not confine themselves to a single environment or institution, but instead build bridges between countries, languages, and generations of creators. What matters most is not highlighting the role of institutions, but strengthening the voices of artists, giving them tools, stages, and audiences.
It is this expansion of possibilities, the increase in visibility, and the support for creative courage that keeps culture alive. And the actions that grow out of it can—and should—reach further: beyond a single event, a single evening, or a single place.
Four miniatures emerged from this process:
- Ewa Bembenek – Ł or a bissl troszkę
- Jäckie Rydz – LAVA
- Fâtıma Çalışkan – Smoking for Kraków
- Lena Lagunshkova – Lisa in Heaven Holding a Rauchtopaz
These texts then became the basis for further creative work. They were randomly assigned to young directors—students of the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków and the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy in Białystok. Each director was given complete artistic freedom, resulting in four distinct, authorial stage forms.
The miniatures were directed by:
- Lada Borovska
- Kamila Kucia
- Julia Lange
- Piotr Sędkowski
On the stage of the Machinery Building, young artists, actors, new dramatic texts, and audiences came together—without intermediaries or shortcuts. For the playwrights, the presentation at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre offered a genuine opportunity to confront their work with a live audience. For the directors and actors, it was a chance to engage with entirely new dramatic material, still unshaped by theatrical convention.
An important role in this process was played by the Instytut Kultury Willa Decjusza, which—together with the Willa Decjusza Association—has been consistently developing a model of work that goes beyond one-off projects. Here, residencies do not end with the completion of a text, and events are never treated as goals in themselves. Each stage opens the door to the next: collaboration, reinterpretation, and an expanded visibility for artists.
The Marathon of Dramatic Miniatures showed that culture needs open spaces—free, direct, and international. Spaces that do not confine themselves to a single environment or institution, but instead build bridges between countries, languages, and generations of creators. What matters most is not highlighting the role of institutions, but strengthening the voices of artists, giving them tools, stages, and audiences.
It is this expansion of possibilities, the increase in visibility, and the support for creative courage that keeps culture alive. And the actions that grow out of it can—and should—reach further: beyond a single event, a single evening, or a single place.