English Section

Polish director wins Italian theatre award

18.12.2024 22:00
Polish director Łukasz Twarkowski has won the 2024 Premio Ubu (Ubu Award) for best foreign theatre production staged in Italy.
Pixabay License
Pixabay LicenseImage by PIRO4D from Pixabay

He received the honour for his show Rohtko, which has garnered praise in several European countries.

Written by Anka Herbut, Rohtko premiered two years ago at the Jan Kochanowski Theatre in Opole, southern Poland.

The production's title references Mark Rothko, the renowned 20th-century American abstract painter, and its narrative is inspired by a real-life art forgery.

The story revolves around a Rothko painting sold for USD 8.5 million that was later revealed to be a fake.

Rohtko delves into the complex interplay between the real and the virtual, raising provocative questions about art and its value, according to press materials for the production.

These include: "Can a faked image evoke real emotion? Is it possible for an original painting to cause only fake emotions? What determines the value of art? Can good art be cheap? What is good art? What is art? And what is it for?"

Twarkowski, 41, has built his reputation through a series of multimedia performances combining theatre and the visual arts.

He is the first Polish director to win the Ubu Award since its launch in 1977. The award is named after the play Ubu Re by French dramatist Alfred Jarry.

Twarkowski’s projects have been featured at prestigious events and venues such as the Holland Festival, Festival de Otoño de Madrid, Wiener Festwochen, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Onassis Stegi in Athens and the Southbank Centre in London.

(mk/gs)