Theater
6th New Europe International Festival: PRETTY HARDCORE
6th edition of the New Europe International Festival: PRETTY HARDCORE June - December 2025
Step out of the comfort zone?
We’re reluctant to do it, we’re afraid, we cling tightly to the zone delineated by therapeutic newspeak. Is there a proper one? Just one — shared by all? Or are there many — perhaps even mutually exclusive?
The programme of the 6th New Europe International Festival: PRETTY HARDCORE opens a space for the exploration of discomfort. Where are the boundaries drawn? Which flashpoints emerge? How far can one go? In the name of what? Or who? Because some suppress these actions, others applaud them, still others are afraid — belonging is entangled with (dis)comfort. Taking sides requires both support and obedience — but is it possible to act outside the logic of loyalty, which so often leads to uncritical following? How do we break free from this?
This liberation occurs through nonconformity, provocation, voice, and story — even through the body itself. The invited artists envision new forms of community, operating according to a different logic — expanding definitions and breaking through the frames that restrict movement and constrain thought. Their performances take place somewhere at the intersection of artistic gesture, activist engagement, and personal biography. They are always politically charged, though not necessarily overtly — manifesting as flamboyant non-belonging, in a refusal to comply with the social contract, in displays of non-normativity. They provoke other bodies to react. Something ruptures.
Pretty hardcore? Why not.
Taking a stand against the increasingly ephemeral and festival-centric character of cultural life, we chose an ongoing formula for our event, which will run from September to December. We want to avoid framing our shows as fleeting, transient events, but want to turn them into a consistent practice of meeting with important theater artists from Europe and all over the globe.
Join us as we experience, discover, and confront a rich variety of perspectives, as well as engage in debate and conversation.
The curators of the 6th New Europe International Festival: PRETTY HARDCORE include: Olga Drygas, Piotr Gruszczyński, and Karolina Ochab.
Festival program:
- 14 June Physis Asian Dope Boys (China)
- 19-21 September NarcoSexuals Dries Verhoeven (Netherlands)
- 15-16 October Soliloquio Tiziano Cruz (Argentina)
- 17-18 October Wayqeycuna Tiziano Cruz
- 14-15 November Friction Sophia Rodriguez (Belgium/Venezuela)
- 5-6 December Get Off Katy Baird (Great Britain)
Tickets: 60/40 PLN
Funding for the festival has been provided by the City of Warsaw.
Past events
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Get Off
05.12–06.12.2025Get Off
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Friction
Theater
14.11–15.11.2025Friction
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Meeting with Tiziano Cruz
Meetings
17.10.2025Meeting with Tiziano Cruz
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Bread of the world - workshop
17.10.2025
Bread of the world - workshop
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WAYQEYCUNA
Theater
17.10–18.10.2025WAYQEYCUNA
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Soliloquio
Theater
15.10–16.10.2025Soliloquio
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Meeting with Dries Verhoeven
Meetings
21.09.2025Meeting with Dries Verhoeven
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NarcoSexuals
Theater
19.09–21.09.2025NarcoSexuals
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ASIANDOPEBOYS: PHYSIS
Music / Actions
14.06.2025ASIANDOPEBOYS: PHYSIS
Other cycles
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The New Book
Literature
The New Book
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4th New Europe International Festival: Love
Theater
4th New Europe International Festival: Love
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New Book for Children
Literature
New Book for Children
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5th New Europe International Festival: Louder!
Theater
5th New Europe International Festival: Louder!
