Stefan Żeromski Theatre in Kielce

In our repertoire consists of performances appreciated at many festivals. The record-holder, in this regard, turned out to be „How I didn't kill my father and how much I regret it” by Mateusz Pakuła (co-production with Łaźnia Nowa, Cracow), winner of the Grand Prix at the 16th International Theater Festival Divine Comedy in Cracow, presented at almost all theater festivals in the country. Noted in Poland, considered as controversial performance, was also „But with Out Dead” based on the book by Jacek Dehnel, directed by Marcin Liber. In recent years, our Theatre has been producing such important plays, as: „The Life and Death of Mr. Hersh Libking from Sacramento, CA” by Ishbel Szatrawska, directed by Łukasz Kos, or performances dedicated to people on the autism spectrum – „Niko, a simple oridinary story” by Joanna Mueller, directed by Zofia Gustowska. An expression of the young artist's artistic pursuits was Jan Jelinski's „Ludwig”.

The Theater also produces dance performances, such as „Expiria” by Agnieszka Kryst – created as part of a choreographic project “Widening the Field” (co-production of the New Theater in Warsaw, Art Stations Foundation). As part of a collaboration with the National Theatre of Iceland in Reykjavik we presented two plays from our repertoire: „Splendor in the grass” by Michał Siegoczyński and „The Horizon” by Michał Kotański (which was also registered as a television performance on TVP Culture). Expanding this cooperation resulted in "islandic" plays – julibee „A Few Stories from Iceland” (text by Weronika Murek, directed by Una Thorleifsdottir) and „Helgi, son of Jón” (text by Tyrfingur Tyrfingsson, directed by Marta Streker, selected by open call).

Out previous premieres also were appreciated at many festivals. Only during the last years „Loneliness of Cotton Fields” directed by Radosław Rychcik was presented in dozen of overviews and festivals, e.g. in Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, Santiago de Chile, Nowym Jorku, Berlinie, Créteil, Nancy, Seulu, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro; in Poland, e.g. at International Theatre Festival Boska Komedia (2009) and Open’er Festival (2016).

Performances of Jolanta Janiczak and Wiktor Rubin, staged in Kielce were presented and appreciated at Boska Komedia (Empress Katarzyna, Joanna the Mad: Queen). Performances representing Kielce theatre at Shakespeare Festival in Gdańsk  („Hamlet” by Rychcik, “Taming of the Shrew” by Katarzyna Deszcz) were successful.

In the theatre season 2016/17 performance “Harper” written by Simon Stephens and directed by Grzegorz Wiśniewski was successfully presented at 37. Warsaw Theatre Encounters, 25. Olsztyn Theatre Encounters, at the 3rd Festival off New Theatre in Rzeszów. For 28. Edition of Polish Contest for Staging of Contemporary Polish Play three productions of Kielce theatre were short-listed: “1946” by Tomasz Śpiewak directed by Remigiusz Brzyk (presented also e.g. at 11th International Theatre Festival Boska Komedia in Cracow, 17th Festival of First Stagings in Bydgoszcz: Nie/Podległa and at 38th Warsaw Theatre Encounters,  „Rasputin” by Jolanta Janiczak directed by Wiktor Rubin and  “Darkness”, inspired by “The Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad by Paweł Demirski directed by Monika Strzępka (also shown during the 13th Festival of Polish Contemporary Plays R@Port in Gdynia).

Many performances are being co-produced with theatres from whole Poland, e.g. Nowy Theatre from Warsaw , Syrena Theatre, IMKA Theatre, Łaźnia Nowa Theatre from Cracow. The Theatre is also open for co-operation with European institutions, what results in Kielce International Theatre Festival, taking place every autumn since 2017 and hosting theatres from Hungary, Slovenia and Spain.

The institution has many additional theatrical and semi-theatrical activities. In the field of education for children and youth Theatre organizes performances for schools as well as theatre workshops for pupils of primary and secondary schools. For university students we organize student premieres followed by the discussion meetings with artists and creators of the play. Żeromski Theatre participates in cultural and educational projects organized at local and state level, such as National Reading Days, European Funds Open Days, Public Theatre Day. We are implementing soft activities as a part of the task “Reconstruction of the historic Stefan Zeromski Theater in Kielce for the purpose of preserving cultural heritage and expanding cultural and educational activities” subsidized by the EEA Funds. This activities include: microspectacles from the Read [ʐɛrɔmskʲi] series, art exhibitions in Foyer Gallery, „We need to talk to...” meetings, Nanny at the Theatre program, behind-the-scenes meetings in the theater's restaurant, performances accessible to the deaf and blind, performances with English and Ukrainian subtitles, lectures before selected performances for children and schoolchildren, customizes school workshops, acting workshops, tours of the headquarters with historical features, and much more.