Powszechny Theatre (Łódź): VHS | 31. Theatrical Confrontations

The slogan of the 31st Theatrical Confrontations “The world eats the soul” is a paraphrase of the title of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film “Fear to eat the soul”. Not coincidentally — the festival will open the play “Fear Eats the Soul” by Jędrzej Piaskowski and Hubert Sulima, inspired by Fassbinder's work. But this year's slogan goes far beyond one performance.

The theater of this world will not fix, but it can look closely at it. It can go back to history when it begins to look worryingly like the present. It can check the language with which we describe others and ourselves. It can speak of freedom, loneliness, memory, violence, community. And sometimes it can just give us two hours of laughter, emotion, or pure theatrical pleasure—experienced together, with other people in the audience.

Full program and descriptions of performances and details on the festival website: link to the site.

In the Labirynt Gallery as part of the festival you will be able to see a performance of the Łódź Powszechny Theatre: VHS.

9.10.2026 (Friday), 6 p.m.

tickets: 40/50 zł at the box office of the Cultural Center in Lublin or online [SOLD OUT]

The story of a man whose vicissitudes are inextricably intertwined with the political and economic transformations of the 1980s and 1990s in Poland. The hero of the play decides to take fate into his own hands and comes up with the idea of his own business. He intends to use a VCR stolen from the transport of goods transported to the West and pirated VHS tapes...

“I am interested in literature “close to man” — plays that try to capture everyday life, the stories of ordinary people, into a theatrical framework. “VHS” is a poignant story about a guy who believes that his time has just come. And the way to happiness, abundance and freedom is to become... VHS tapes. Traveling around the country, he organizes screenings of foreign films in fireplaces and rural houses of culture. Finally, he is someone,” says director Sławomir Narloch.

Amateur film screenings are a breath of the West for the villagers, a substitute for luxury like the first sip of Coca-Cola. For the main character, it is “American dream” in Polish edition. — “Although the 90s are a distant, mythical time from our perspective, when the world opened up and everything seemed possible, I have an irresistible impression that the drive for success and for finally being someone is a story that continues and still describes our everyday life. We live in the reprisal of the 90s.

author: Marcin Bałczewski; director: Sławomir Narloch; set design and costumes: Maks Mac; music: Jakub Gawlik; light direction: Karolina Gębska; video: Sebastian Jasnoch; cast: Sebastian Jasnoch, Zuzanna Głądys (trumpet); duration: 70 min