BENIAMIN M. BUKOWSKI
AUTHOR
(b. 1991) Playwright, director. Graduate of Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts Studies at Jagiellonian University (philosophy, art history) and Stage Directing at the National Academy of Theatre Art in Krakow. PhD student at the Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University. Recipient of scholarships from Nowy Teatr in Warsaw and Residenztheater Munich, as well as the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Young Poland scholarship and the Artistic Scholarship of the City of Krakow. Winner of Third Prize at the Staatstheater Nuremberg's Talking About Borders international playwriting competition for Mazagan. Miasto [Mazagan. The City] (2016), and two-time Second Prize winner at the Plays for Children and Young People Competition organized by the Children’s Art Centre in Poznań for Sztuka bez babci [A Play Without a Grandmother] (2016) and Miasto [The City] (2020). Won the Gdynia Alternative Playwriting Award for Niesamowici bracia Limbourg [The Incredible Limbourg Brothers] in 2015; his production of the text won the Audience Prize at TEATROTEKA FEST 2019. Odkrycie Europy (Discovery of Europe) won 2nd place at the special competition for dramatic texts for TEATROTEKA, held in 2016 by WFDiF and ZaiKS, the Polish Society of Authors and Composers. Bukowski's plays have been translated into English, German, French, Belarusian, and Georgian.
JULIA SZMYT
DIRECTOR
(b. 1985) Stage director, actor, coach. Graduate of Stage Directing at the A. Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, Cultural Studies at the A. Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and a post-graduate course in coaching and mentoring at the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw. Recipient of three scholarships from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and a scholarship from the Marshal of Wielkopolska Voivodeship. Directs and acts in theatre productions, happenings and films for all age groups. Lecturer at the University of the Arts Poznań and the STA Actors' Studio in Poznań. Has received numerous awards and mentions, including a nomination for the Offeusz award for her production of Michał Walczak's The Sandbox at the Malta International Theatre Festival in Poznań, 2003. Bromba i inni based on texts by Maciej Wojtyszko at Teatr Guliwer in Warsaw received the ASSITEJ certificate of excellence at the 23 Korczak International Festival of Theatres for Children and Young People in Warsaw. In 2019, her staged adaptation of Åsa Lind's The Sand Wolf at Teatr Lalka in Warsaw won the Słoneczniki prize awarded by Czas Dzieci portal for the most interesting artistic initiatives for children.
