The Stage Song Review is one of the few festivals of song interpretation in the world. With over forty years of its history, it has been a unique cultural event on the Polish map – it promotes song as a medium for high culture. Every year, leading Polish theatre and song artists as well as artists form abroad come to Wrocław to perform at the festival. The key element of the festival are The Song Interpretation Contest and The Off Contest, which bring young and talented artists and performers to Wrocław. The Stage Song Review features premiere concerts: The Gala and The Finale Concert, directed by prominent theatre artists.
About the 46th Stage Song Review
Last year’s Stage Song Review concluded with a panel discussion and concert, “Why sing in the theater?” This year, we are taking an even deeper look at song in theater and explore diverse styles of vocal expression. To this end, we are exploring both mainstream and alternative performances, as well as concerts that often go beyond standard conventions – they are a combination of spoken word and musical performance. Song does not follow the beaten track, and its great power lies in the versatile use of its potential. More and more theater artists are experimenting with the form of communication and using a song as a messenger of emotions and thoughts for which the spoken word alone lacks sufficient power. During the 46th Stage Song Review, we will examine how the theatricality of song influences the reception of diverse artistic styles.
This year we celebrate the anniversary of the Off Stream. Exactly twenty years ago, the then-artistic director of the Stage Song Review, Wojciech Kościelniak, initiated the Off Competition, in which independent theatre artists present their premiere projects. The winner of the first edition of the competition was the play “The Table” by the Karbido group, composed of Michał Litwiniec, Igor Gawlikowski, Marek Otwinowski, and Paweł Czepułkowski. Audiences of the 46th PPA will have the opportunity to watch this performance again, and its creators, along with other guests, will take part in the panel “Jubilee… the essence of the contemporary off scene”, moderated by Krzysztof Mieszkowski, editor-in-chief of Notatnik Teatralny, and Marzena Sadocha, his deputy. Nine projects will compete in this year’s competition for the Tukana Off: “Kongres XR” (Rafał Pietrowicz, Łukasz Pospieszalski, Natalia Rzeźniak-Pospieszalska), “La Vida del Pedro,” directed by Ewa Kaim, “Mass,” directed by Maciej Ćwieluch, “Oxytocin,” dir. Maciej Walter, “Songs of Silence,” directed by Bartłomiej Kalinowski, “A Disappointing Episode,” directed by Ewa Platt, “Slavic Year Spring 2026,” directed by Michalina Walusiak, “Noise, Mother, Glass, System,” directed by Joanna Piwowar-Antosiewicz, and “What Is Love,” directed by Anka Wojtkowiak-Williams and Jacek Timingeriu.
Mateusz Pakuła will direct the year one of the festival’s most important events. The premiere of “The-Undivine-Gala”, with musical arrangements by Antonis Skolias, is a subversive story about important matters that go far beyond divine themes. Mateusz Pakuła takes a tongue-in-cheek look at final judgments, but quite seriously leans into the universal values we all know about but increasingly rarely embrace. Popular hits will be performed by Paulina Przybysz, Natalia Przybysz, Tomasz Schuchardt, Emose Uhunmwangho, Klaudia Waszak, Zuzanna Skolias-Pakuła, Mateusz Bieryt, Janek Marczewski, Adaś Paczkowski, Mateusz Trembaczowski, Anna Stela, Marek Hucz, Janek Jurkowski, Andrzej Plata, Szymon Mysłakowski, and Paweł Kaczmarczyk.
The premiere Final Concert, “FEVER OF LIFE. Sanatorium” is directed by Marcin Czarnik and Milena Czarnik, with musical direction by Adam Lepka. The creators have created a place for the soul to rest, where one can not only breathe but also gather strength and courage for the journey ahead. In a sanatorium full of hope and love, Bartosz Bielenia, Alicja Czarnik, Helena Czarnik, Małgorzata Gorol, Magdalena Osińska, Jan Peszek, Ptakova, Justyna Szafran, Cezary Studniak, Alona Szostak, Emose Uhunmwangho, Klaudia Waszak, Barbara Wrzesińska, Zbigniew Zamachowski, and Michał Żurawski will sing. The first part of the Final Concert traditionally features performances by the finalists of the Song Interpretation Contest, whose names will be announced on March 20th after the second stage of the KAIP.
The performances included in this year’s PPA program experiment with a song, well-known stories, and universal themes. “Cosmic Home” directed and set to music by Lina Lapelytė, explores the human condition against the backdrop of an extraterrestrial order. How much of this system depends on us, and how much on cosmic forces? Marcin Liber, the director of “Szczecin Paprikash” offers down-to-earth stories with unusual characters. There’s no shortage of absurd plots that treat serious human problems with a wink, existential dilemmas encapsulated in a can of paprika, and bittersweet humor. Much more serious is “The Haunted Manor”, directed by Anna Obszańska, a veritable opera of horror, in which national illnesses haunt even from beyond the grave. Are we capable of examining our own fears? We’ll also seek answers to this question in “The New PAN TADEUSZ — Only Make It Rap” directed by Kamil Białaszek, a rapper known as Koza. The artist takes a perverse look at the well-known epic, swapping well known landscapes for housing estates. We’ll also immerse into the story of the famous seducer from Seville, who was abducted to hell by a stone statue. “Don Giovanni”, directed by Cezary Tomaszewski, Theatre Academy in Warsaw, is a cross between opera, drama theatre and musical.
The program for the 46th PPA also includes concerts by Polish and international artists. The performance by the renowned duo CocoRosie goes beyond the confines of a typical concert. “Little Death Wishes” is an audiovisual ritual in which the artists create an intimate space for expressing intense emotions. Argentinian musician Daniel Melingo will perform a concert set to the rhythms of tango and the murky streets of Buenos Aires, singing in a low voice and with theatrical exaggeration. Meanwhile, the concert by Scandinavian artist Jay-Jay Johanson is a proposition for anyone who appreciates melancholic and tender vocals, melodies laced with jazz, an electronic chill, and a sense of distance from reality.
Among the other Polish performers were artists experimenting with a song interpretation and artistic narrative. Zofia Sofinka Imiela’s “Confluence” is the premiere concert of last year’s winner of the Song Interpretation Contest. “Unclickable” by Maja Kleszcz is another project that will be performed for the first time in front of a festival audience. Arek Jakubik’s “Romeo and Juliet are alive” is a combination of a play and concert, in which the artist tells the story of love through the lens of an alternative history of famous lovers. Filip Cembala’s “MyLove” was inspired by a true story and explores identity, self-defense, the search for inner cohesion, and self-acceptance. Kasia Lins’s “Obywatelka K.L.” (Citizen K.L.) is an invitation to the world of Grzegorz Ciechowski’s compositions—great hits and lesser-known songs. This is not the end of intimate spaces where the written word reigns supreme. Paweł Mykietyn (piano) and Maja Laura (vocals) have translated the poems of American poet Sara Teasdale into the language of music for the “Nightfall” project.
As always, we invite you to the Festival Club for the evening concerts. This year’s bands include Daj Oginia, Afro Kolektyw, Molar, Tercet Imperial, Royber Trio, Tantfreaky, Moon Hoax, and Czerwie.
See you in Wrocław!
