Fantasia (Poland, TR Warszawa). Festival Theatre in Close-Up

With the Liepāja Theatre Festival Theatre in Close-Up, one of the key programmes of Liepāja – European Capital of Culture 2027 will begin this year – the Open Theatre Quarter.

In 2025, the festival will take place from 21 to 24 August, presenting five international theatre productions from Finland, Lithuania, and Poland, along with one production by the Liepāja Theatre.

This initiative is dedicated to the development and accessibility of theatre arts, strengthening the role of the genre on regional, national, and international levels.

Fantasia (Poland, TR Warszawa)

In Polish (surtitles in Latvian and English).

‘Working on the performance, we focused on that specific imaginative activity that allows you to understand what other people feel, to feel connected to them and in a non-judgmental way see them in different situations/see their point of view.It can be said that in the theatre room we have organised the meeting of a number of people who in other circumstances would never have met, or would have met and not noticed it. It is difficult to say that they are theatrical characters or that they are fictional persons.

These people appear at the confluence of the audience’s and the actors’ imaginations, interact, accompany each other and disappear. In the play we also observe the mechanism of actors taking on roles. We hope that a certain sense of intimacy and joy is created in this encounter, and that the mechanism of disinterestedly noticing others, and empathising with them, can be ‘carried’ by the audience out of the theatre.’ Anna Karasińska, director of ‘Fantasia”.

Her modest shows still have what Polish theatre lacks like air – unpretentiousness and a sense of humour. ‘Fantasia’ additionally appeals directly to the audience’s imagination. It is they who, looking at the stage, are supposed to create a separate performance for themselves, to create everything that the director has not done, to add to the fate of the characters, to give them a biography and the continuation of their lives. To allow themselves to be imaginative precisely. Jacek Wakar, Onet.pl

• Dirrected by Anna Karasińska
• Playwright: Magdalena Rydzewska, Jacek Telenga
• Set and costume design: Paula Grocholska
• Choreography: Magda Ptasznik
• Lightning design: Szymon Kluz

The project Liepāja Theatre Festival “Theatre in Close-Up” is being implemented as part of the Liepāja 2027 programme with funding provided by the Ministry of Culture, the City of Liepāja, and the municipalities of South Kurzeme and Kuldīga.