Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski receives Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement goes to Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski. The Silver Lion goes to English poet, author and performer Kae Tempest.

The Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski, an emblematic figure in post-Communist theatre who has left his mark in international theatre with the memorable visions he has created, is the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre 2021. Warlikowski, who was awarded by La Biennale di Venezia, received the award during the 49th International Theatre Festival in Venice this July.

“For over twenty years, Krzysztof Warlikowski – the motivation for the award reads – has been the advocate for a profound renewal of the European language of theatre. Relying on references from cinema and an original use of video, inventing new forms of theatre that aim to re-establish the bond between the play and the audience, Warlikowski encourages the latter to rip away the paper backdrop of their lives and to discover what is really hidden underneath”.

Krzysztof Warlikowski (Szczecin – Poland 1962) directed his first plays in 1989, at the age of 27, after completing his studies in philosophy and history in Krakow, and in the French language and Greek theatre at the Sorbonne in Paris.

He has created a new way of staging Shakespeare. His body of work contains subversive interpretations of Greek tragedies, but he is also well known for his staging of modern authors. His 2002 production of Sarah Kane’s Cleansed at the Festival d’Avignon and the Festival de Théâtre des Amériques in Montreal received wide acclaim. It was a turning point for Warlikowski’s international presence. Since 2008 he has been the Artistic Director of the International Cultural Centre Nowy Teatr in Warsaw, where he has so far directed six shows based on multilayers text adaptation: (A)pollonia (2009), The End (2010), African Tales by Shakespeare (2011), Kabaret warszawski (2013), The French (2015), We Are Leaving (2018). All the performances were coproduced with the most prestigious European theatres, including Théâtre National de Chaillot and Odéon Théâtre de l’Europe in Paris, Festival d’Avignon, Comédie de Cermont-Ferrand, Greek Festival in Athens, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie de Bruxelles, Théâtre de Liège, Ruhrtriennale. He directed two performances at the Odéon Théâtre de l’Europe in Paris: Streetcar (2011) and Phaedra(s) (2016) with Isabelle Huppert in the leading role.

For more information visit: https://www.labiennale.org/en/news/2021-lion-awards-theatre