The defendant in Sytuacja graniczna / The Borderline Case is the Polish state itself. The charge concerns the use of violence by state institutions – including the army and the Border Guard – against migrants attempting to cross the Polish–Belarusian border into Europe. However, the defendant fails to appear in court and is instead represented before the audience by his defence – Mateusz Janicki. Barbara Wysocka takes the role of the prosecutor, while the presiding judge is Maja Ostaszewska – an actress who for years has spoken out about the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border, regardless of which political party happens to be in power. Can such a case end in a verdict?

Directed by Michał Zadara, the play adopts the form of a courtroom drama. It is produced by Centrala and the Institute for Performative Law, independent organisations that consider art a catalyst for social change. The audience are confronted not only with evidence – videos, photographs, testimonies from migrants and aid workers – but also with actual rulings and judgments issued by Polish courts, revealing a crisis of the rule of law in the border zone. This trial exposes how populist, anti-immigrant narratives create social consent for a situation in which children cry in pain by the border wall and the wounded are denied medical assistance. It also shows, Alas!, that such narratives are spread not only by those openly hostile to democracy but also by politicians who publicly declare their support for freedom and equality of all people in the face of law.

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Photo: press materials