Krystian Lupa

Krystian Lupa (Poland, 1943), renowned Polish theatre director, set designer, writer and educator, is considered as the one of the greatest international directors.
After his graduation, he worked at the Norwid Theatre in Jelenia Góra, where he conducted research into new forms of theatre expression with a group of young actors, and then at Stary Teatr in Kraków, which hosted the largest number of his stagings. In Jelenia Góra, Lupa mostly staged original productions, which were his artistic manifestos. In the Kraków shows, Lupa explored the spiritual condition of man in the era of deep cultural transformation. With The Lime Works, the director began his engagement with the work of Thomas Bernhard (he staged 7 Bernhard’s texts). With the staging of Immanuel Kant he started his association with the Polski Theatre in Wrocław, which continued with works by Broch, Musil, Schwab, Gorky. Other important stagings include text by Wyspiański, Bulgakov and others.

His last works are Capri – the Island of Fugitives in Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw (2019), and Austerlitz in Valstybinis Jaunimo Teatras in Vilnius (2020).

For many young directors, Lupa is a master and spiritual guru.

Krystian Lupa has won many prestigious theatre awards in Poland and abroad, including the Leon Schiller Award (1992), Europe Theatre Prize (2009), Nestroy Theatre Prize (2014), Golden Cross of the Stage Award (2016).