Waiting for the Barbarians

A theatrical production inspired by J.M. Coetzee's novel. Direction: Bartosz Szydłowski. Screenplay: Łukasz Drewniak, Krzysztof Szekalski. Set design, costumes, lighting design and multimedia production: Małgorzata Szydłowska. Live music: Paweł Kulczyński. Stage manager: Jurgita Zaiauskas. Cast: Małgorzata Gorol, Marta Zięba, Maciej Charyton, Krzysztof Zarzecki, Avo Buchaca Puiggner (audio recording). Production: Teatr Łaźnia Nowa. Graphics: Zbigniew Prokop.

The greatest threat to the Empire is not an external enemy, but the mechanism that creates it - through language, propaganda, procedures, and the everyday decisions of people who do not see themselves as perpetrators. Without them, the evil inflicted on those rejected by the "system" could not occur.

This is a story about how ordinary people - not monsters or tyrants from history textbooks - gradually cross the boundaries of humanity in the name of "order", "national security", and their own comfort. The boundary does not run between "us" and "them". It runs through each of us - and this is where the story begins.

Duration: approximately 90 minutes.