With French and English interpretation.
For only the second time in its history, one of France’s most important theatre magazines – Théâtre/Public – turns its gaze toward Polish theatre. In 2021, issue no. 240 was devoted entirely to the work and legacy of Krystian Lupa. In January 2026, issue no. 258 titled “Scènes Polonaises” will be published, both issues conceived and coordinated by Agnieszka Zgieb – translator and tireless advocate of Polish theatre in France.
The new issue is built on the idea of dialogue between Polish and French theatre-makers and scholars, whose perspectives form the basis for an attempt to describe the last twenty-five years of contemporary Polish theatre. The goal was to capture the processes, tensions, disputes and artistic visions that shape Polish theatre today – and to understand the soil from which it grows.
We warmly invite you to join us in celebrating this extraordinary Polish–French theatrical encounter, a testament to the power of theatre and its ability to build community, including across borders. And where better to host such a celebration than at the most significant theatre festival in Poland – the Divine Comedy in Kraków. Welcome!
Contributors to Théâtre/Public no. 258:
Michał Borczuch, Piotr Dobrowolski, Tomasz Domagała, Victor Inisan, Katarzyna Kalwat, Chloé Larmet, Katarzyna Renes, Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk, Bartosz Szydłowski, Olga Śmiechowicz, Michał Telega, Christophe Triau, Marcin Wierzchowski, Anna Wyrwik, Agnieszka Zgieb, Marta Zięba, Wojtek Ziemilski.
About Théâtre/Public
Théâtre/Public is a French theatre journal founded in 1974 in Paris by director Bernard Sobel. Published quarterly, it is widely regarded as the most influential periodical dedicated to theatre – both French and European. Each issue focuses on a single theme, whether aesthetic, social or political, analysed through the lens of stage practice and contemporary theatre life.
The magazine serves as a meeting point for artists, researchers and audiences, fostering discussion on the role of theatre in contemporary culture. It publishes essays, interviews, performance analyses and documents from the theatrical field in France and worldwide. With more than 250 issues published to date, its current editor-in-chief is Olivier Neveux, writer and professor of theatre history and aesthetics at the École normale supérieure in Lyon.
Participants
TOMASZ DOMAGAŁA – theatre critic (domagalasiekultury.pl, Notatnik Teatralny, Teātra Vēstnesis, Kultūros barai), curator, collaborator of major Polish theatre festivals. Member of the Polish section of IATC – the International Association of Theatre Critics; editor at anywhere.pl.
1. AGNIESZKA ZGIEB – theatre translator, playwright and author of numerous publications on theatre; a leading promoter of Polish theatre in France. In 2022, she received the ZAiKS Literary Award for lifetime achievement in translation. Coordinator of Théâtre/Public no. 258, Scènes Polonaises.
2. CHRISTOPHE TRIAU – theatre scholar, professor at Paris Nanterre University, dramaturg, author of numerous publications on theatre history and aesthetics, contemporary dramaturgy and directing.
3. VICTOR INISAN – PhD in theatre studies, university lecturer, dramaturg and lighting designer; also works as a theatre critic (radio: France Culture; press: I/O Gazette, AOC).
4. MICHAŁ BORCZUCH – theatre director; graduate of the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and later of the Directing Department at the State Theatre School in Kraków, where he now teaches. One of the most significant theatre artists of his generation. His artistic explorations have, for more than a decade, set a key direction for progressive Polish theatre. He has developed a unique language that, through the exploration of deeply personal experience, becomes an incisive tool for describing reality composed of layered perspectives and meanings.
5. MICHAŁ TELEGA – director and dramaturg; representative of the youngest generation of Polish theatre; graduate of the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków. His work constantly balances between the private and the fictional. He focuses on questions of auto-theatricality and violence, often exploring his own biography. His practice centres on creating a communicative stage language in which theatrical signs enter into dynamic dialogue with one another and with the viewer.
6. KATARZYNA KALWAT – theatre director, graduate of the Theatre Academy in Warsaw and of psychology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. In her work, the body becomes a transmitter of hidden meanings, and music a way of negotiating what can and cannot be expressed. She is particularly drawn to contemporary French literature (Annie Ernaux, Didier Eribon, Georges Perec, Sarah Kofman). Her main artistic concerns include the insufficiency of language, questions of identity, and strategies of self-creation in the construction of biography.
Théâtre/Public no. 258 Scènes Polonaises was published with the support of the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Polish Institute in Paris.
