Łukasz Twarkowski, the director of QUANTA, which had its world premiere at the international Boska Komedia Festival, has won the prestigious Ubu Award for Best Foreign Theatre Production.

On December 7th and 8th, Twarkowski presented his new production Quanta at the Boska Komedia Festival in Kraków. The performance was warmly received by critics, industry professionals, festival programmers, and – last but not least – the audience.

Following the festival, on December 16th, the Ubu Awards ceremony took place in Bologna, Italy. Held at the Arena del Sole Theatre, this event is considered the Italian equivalent of the Oscars for theatre. For the first time in the history of the Premio Ubu, a Polish artist has been awarded this prestigious statuette. Łukasz Twarkowski was honored for his production Rohtko (which was also presented two years ago at the Boska Komedia Festival) in the category of Best Foreign Theatre Production presented in Italy.

The Ubu Awards are the most prestigious theatre honors in Italy, and in the category of Best Foreign Show, previous laureates include some of the most renowned theatre creators such as: Angelica Lidell, Tiago Rodrigues, Dīmītrīs Papaïōannou, Milo Rau, Rimini Protokoll (whose production closed this year’s Boska Komedia Festival), Christoph Marthaler, Bob Wilson, Sam Mendes, Pina Bausch, Robert Lepage, Peter Brook, Eimuntas Nekrošius, and Alain Platel.

But the accolades do not end here. Just a month earlier, on November 16th, Twarkowski and his team received the prestigious German theatre award Faust for the Best Use of Sound and Multimedia in the production WOW.

The performance Rohtko, created by Łukasz Twarkowski, Anka Herbut, Fabien Lede, Jakub Lech, Svenja Gassen, Paweł Sakowicz, and Łubomir Grzelak, has been widely acclaimed and is being extensively presented on international stages. It will be shown again at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam at the end of June 2025.

About the Ubu Awards:
The Ubu Award, founded in 1977 by theatre critic Franco Quadri, is regarded as the most prestigious theatre award in Italy. Initially, the award also encompassed cinema and music, but since 1979, it has been entirely dedicated to theatre. After the founder’s death, the Ubu Association took over the organization of the awards in 2012. The name of the award refers to the play Ubu roi by Alfred Jarry, a French playwright. The Ubu Awards are often referred to as the “Oscars of Italian theatre.”

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photo: press materials