Theatre is Freedom | Teatr to Wolność is a new outdoor theatre festival at Bell Square and part of the UK/Poland Season 2025. The festival runs from 5 – 21 September and features six Polish companies presenting UK premieres of their work and with three companies performing in the UK for the first time.
Bal (The Ball) by Teatro KTO
A tale written in steps. One night, one dance floor and hundreds of stories. Which one will you dance?
A performance in which dance tells more than words, its rhythm being set by a passionate and dynamic choreography. The fates of the characters are depicted by a collage of the pliant bodies of performers acting to the pulse of music – from the swinging 1930s, through the passionate tangos of the 1950s, to the lively present-day rhythms. Each era has its own unique colour, and each dance tells a different story of love, dreams and transience.
The show’s staging delights viewers with its richness of detail. Woven from hundreds of objects, gestures set down in the body and facial expressions, it creates the world of past eras with panache.
Based on the motifs from Ettore Scola’s cult film Le Bal, the performance crosses borders and takes you on a journey from which there is no return to ordinary everyday life.
Drom (In the Footsteps of the Roma) by Teatr Migro
The Roma population is made up of different groups – the Romany, the Kalderash, the Lovari… do you know who they are and where they come from? Are you familiar with their traditions? How did they used to live and how do they live now? DROM is a musical, poetic and philosophical tale about migration and the history of the Roma – a people who inhabit nearly all the countries of the world and about whom we know very little. Teatr Migo’s show without words tells their story using Roma music from around the world – from lively swing to melancholic violin tunes, from czardas to flamenco.
Lost Dream by Teatr Osmego Dnia
Austrian author Franz Kafka’s world comes alive in Lost Dream evoking many of the characters and stories from classic novels, such as The Penal Colony, The Metamorphosis and The Trial. The show explores the tensions, fears and threats evoked in his writing and you don’t need to know anything about Kafka’s work to enjoy the life that teems onto the streets in this extraordinary outdoor show with live music.
Performed by the Theatre of the Eighth Day ensemble.
Sztetl by Konin Dance Theatre
The Konin Dance Theatre’s show, Sztetll tells the story of the Konin Jewish community based on Theo Richmond’s book Konin: A Quest. The interpretation of the work, presented through movement, words and gesture, is a journey in search of people who are no longer with us, Sztetl celebrates the pre-war life of the local Jewish community and to make Konin residents aware of what a significant role Konin’s Jews played in the development of the city’s economy and infrastructure.
Konin Dance Theatre was founded by the four dance artists: Katarzyna Łapaj; Strzykowska; Agnieszka Łapaj-Lewandowska; Kinga Furmaniak-Pogodska; Weronika Skórzewska. They are a group using contemporary dance techniques and experimenting with movement in its broadest sense.
Tempest by Teatr Biuro Podrozy
Shakespeare’s classic play, The Tempest – about magic, betrayal, love and forgiveness – is given a completely new direction by the acclaimed Polish theatre company.
Teatr Biuro Podróży has been making theatre since 1988. Its founder and director, Paweł Szkotak has overseen more than thirty-five years of artistic exploration during which, the theatre has developed its own method of working on a performance and a recognizable theatrical style. It has made twenty two original productions, including fourteen outdoor shows.
