LINKAGES Poland: Generation After 2023

generation after SHOWCASE:

REALITY CHECK

Warsaw, Poland · Septemeber 2023

About our trip

In 2023, CITD will continue to forge a new generation of US/Poland artists-to-artist relationships by bringing a delegation of US theatre makers to the Generation After Showcase in Warsaw, Poland. The festival is an intense presentation of the newest developments and trends taking place in Polish theatre. Now in its 7th season, this year's theme, "reality check," will question reality on a regular basis to pull our consciousness into the now. It will experiment with reality by exploring truth, fiction, and everything in between. Sponsored by the NOWY Teatr, the festival is a collaboration of major Warsaw theatres including Komuna Warszawa, STUDIO teatrgaleria, Teatr Dramatczny, Teatr Powszechny, and TR Warszawa. We will see a range of productions, including works by Justyna Sobczyk, Anna Smolar, Łukasz Twarkowski, Gosia Wdowik, and Michał Zadara, and meet with other LINKAGES participants. Our delegation will include 6 American artists in our cohort (profiled beow), Theatre MITU artists Denis Butkus and Justin Nestor, the Trust for Mutual Understanding and the The Wilson Center's Blair Ruble, Ben Pesner from The Venturous Theatre Fund in NYC, Polish coordinator Malgorzata Semil, Project Director Howard Shalwitz, and Project Manager Brandice Thompson.

The Cohort

600
highwaymen

600 Highwaymen (Abigail Browde & Michael Silverstone) have been making performances since 2009. Their work – existing at the intersection of theater, dance, contemporary performance, and civic encounter – illuminates the inherent poignancy of people coming together.

aya
Ogawa

Director, performer and translator whose work reflects an international viewpoint, centers women/non-binary perspectives and utilizes the stage as a space for exploring cultural identity and other facets of the immigrant experience.

ben
ranaan

Artistic Director of Phamaly Theatre in Denver, Ben is a disabled theatre-maker and advocate whose artistic focus centers around creating artistically rigorous theatre with, for, and about the disabled community.

melisa
tien

Playwright, lyricist, librettist, producer, and educator from California who resides in New York City. She is interested in formally unconventional, socially relevant, emotionally evocative work.

katie
yohe

Founder and Executive Artistic Director of A.B.L.E - Artists Breaking Limits & Expectations. Katie's ongoing research centers on developing creative arts programming for individuals with a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and dementia.

Actor and devising artist, and winner of an Obie Award for Best New American Theatre Work, Underground Railroad Game, which she both performed in and created. Jennifer performs regularly with the Wilma and Pig Iron Theater Companies in Philadelphia. She is also a teacher and co-founder of the performance space JACK in Brooklyn.

“It (the trip to Poland) was a stark reminder for me, not only of the importance of coming into contact with a different cultural context but that the process of traveling is a huge opportunity to create space for my own vulnerability….I found that the density and intensity of the work I was exposed to and the conversations I took part in unlocked holding patterns in my subconscious and imagination. As the sunny days passed in Poland, I could feel my mind loosening, along with preconceptions and assumptions….I'm still sitting with all of my experiences there, reflecting, digesting, compiling, and dreaming. This journey was profoundly nourishing and inspiring, and I'll be holding this close for many years to come.”

Aya Ogawa
Playwright & LINKAGES participant