Age restrictions: 14+
Trigger warnings: vulgar language, violence

Grandpa’s Hide is the second novel written by Mateusz Pakuła, whose prose debut, How I Didn’t Kill My Father and How Much I Regret It, became a literary and then a theatrical sensation. Pakuła once again delves into his family history, but this time he takes us back in time to the epicentre of Stalinism, the early 1950s, when his teenage grandfather is sent to the Kielce cathouse for a youthful prank. Who gets him out? And why? What is the connection between these events and the war years, the Kielce pogrom and the memory of the Holocaust?

“Before I knew who the Jews actually were, I was already an anti-Semite,” the author begins his story, reaching back to the history of his hometown – Kielce, where on July 4th 1946, a pogrom against Jews took place. Is it possible to inherit memory and guilt? What happens to history when those who survived it pass away and are replaced by the next generation, burdened with silence? These are just some of the questions that the director of “How I Didn't Kill My Father...” brings up in his newest play.

Cracow premiere (Łaźnia Nowa Theatre): 11.04.2025
Kielce premiere: 26.04.2025

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The script is based on Mateusz Pakuła's book „Skóra po dziadku” (Grandpa's Hide) published by Agora Publishing House.

Cast

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