Nowy Teatr belongs to a network of 12 European partner organisations who have initiated Future Laboratory, a prestigious project involving research residencies focused on social integration all across Europe. 15 artists will take part in three research residencies in three participating European institutions over 30 months. During the residences, each institution will offer the artists the opportunity to access local resources – organisations, foundations, artists, members of local communities, etc. who will allow them to study socio-political realities present in each partner theatre and the city where it is based. The program also covers mentoring and master courses. The aim of the residences is to formulate ideas for projects based on the most vital, pressing issues involving social integration, as well as new and nonexistent narratives which, according to artists, should be presented on theatrical stages of the future.

Here is a list of 12 partners:

1. Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
2. Conde Duque Centro de Cultura Contemporanea, Madrid (Spain)
3. Cyclorama (France)
4. Queens Theatre Hornchurch (United Kingdom)
5. Théâtre de Liège (Belgium)
6. Staatstheater Mainz (Germany)
7. Nowy Teatr, Warsaw (Poland)
8. Teatrul Tineretului, Piatra Neamt (Romania)
9. Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d'Europa (Italy)
10. Teatro Municipal do Porto (Portugal)
11. Comédie de Reims (France)
12. Théâtre National de Strasbourg (France)

Nowy Teatr will support two stipend recipients and host five residents.

EWA MIKUŁA

Born in Mysłowice, Ewa Mikuła is a dramaturge, director and author. She is a graduate of Theatrical Direction Studies (specialising in theatrical dramaturgy) at the St. Wyspiański Academy of Theatrical Arts in Krakow and Theatrical Studies at Jagiellonian University. She explores documentary forms, especially in the contexts of work and creating identities.

My activities as part of the Future Laboratory project are an attempt to continue and expand considerations regarding the identity of young people from minority ethnic groups. I was inspired by attempts to observe my own Silesian identity, along with its ungraspable and multilayered aspects. For some time, I had been asking myself questions: Who am I as a contemporary representative of a minority group? Can we find different ways of describing minorities other than challenging histories, colourful traditions and other preconditioned stereotypes? In the age of globalisation is my local identity still valid? And why, even though I feel proud of my origins, I still feel ashamed of admitting to them?

MORE: 

EWA MIKUŁA project pdf

ANNE SOPHIE KAPSNER

Anne Sophie Kapsner (she/ they) is a director, performer and author based in Munich. After studying Theatre Studies in Munich and Stockholm, she studied Directing for Theatre at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. From 2020 till 2022 Anne worked as a director’s assistent at Münchner Kammerspiele, amongst others with Falk Richter. She performed in one of his pieces (Heldenplatz) and collaborated artistically in Heilige Schrift I. In 2021 she adapted Platonov by Chekhov with a group of young adults for the Münchner Kammerspiele. Kapsner has always been interested in topics like social structures, identity and gender, human fate and big feelings.

In my research for the Future Laboratory I’m interested in identity politics and realities of marginalised groups, especially the queer community. Who is visible and represented in the cityscape? What are safe spaces? How do they look like and how to create them? What part could a theatre possibly play in this? I’m also searching for personal stories about visible and invisible scars, the feeling of loneliness but also the beauty that lies in pain, the fantasies of happiness and freedom and the joy of being. There are this big questions that bother me of who we are as humans and how to live a (good) life - especially when you always feel a bit different.



ELENA RABKINA 

Belarusian refugee artist and activist who combines her artistic, journalistic, and psychological background to create interactive pieces in the field of social illustration and public art. Her main topics of focus include ecology, urbanism, social justice, migration, and activism. She exhibited her work at various venues including the National Contemporary Art Center in Belarus, SÜDBAHNHOF fotografische Werke in Germany, and the Mark Rothko Art Center in Latvia. Elena is also a collaborator with various organizations such as Journalists for Tolerance, Austrian League for Human Rights, ABF, New Regions, and the Red Cross. She is currently based in Europe and continues to use her art as a means of social commentary and activism.

My research centers around exploring the relationship between public and private spaces in theater and its impact on the community. I am particularly interested in the creative processes involved in community building through sharing spaces, which draws from my personal experiences. The theater presents a unique opportunity to examine this topic as it is both a public space and a space filled with private areas dedicated to creativity and practicality. I hope to delve into the ways in which theaters are adapting to changing audience expectations by blurring the lines between public and private spaces. Conversations with members of Nowy Teatr and capturing glimpses of their daily lives through my camera will provide invaluable insight into this topic.