Chronicle of a trip to Gdansk

17th, 18th and 19th /03 /2024

We went to Gdansk (Poland) to meet with Joanna Sniezko, executive director of the European Shakespeare Festivals Network. We were eager to share our intention of restarting the Shakespeare Festival in Catalonia, to hear her opinion, and explore the possibility of rejoining the European Network.

Joanna has been a good friend of the Festival since its early editions, the ones we held until 2015. Reconnecting after such a long time was emotional and special. At the Teatr Szekspirowski in Gdansk, we were warmly and kindly welcomed, and we had the chance to calmly talk with the team, exchange our respective projects, share good practices, and discuss the challenges ahead. Joanna invited us to the next annual meeting of the network, which will take place at the end of May in Craiova (Romania) during the celebration of their Shakespeare Festival, so we can share our exciting future intentions with the network members, currently being 12 countries.

During these days with the team at Teatr Szekspirowski, we fondly and admiringly remembered the inspiring figure of Jerzy Limon. He was a literary scholar, translator, and Polish writer specialized in Shakespearean and Elizabethan theatre. In the 1990s, inspired by his research, Limon began working on organizing the construction of the Shakespeare Theatre of Gdansk and on reviving Shakespearean traditions in the area. With this goal in mind, he founded the Theatrum Gedanense Foundation, later the International Shakespeare Festival, and ultimately the construction of the Theatre itself, which not only fulfilled his dream but has had a significant impact on Polish and European culture.

We hope to capture this spirit, this conviction, with a large project, no matter how distant it may seem at the start, through this deep love for Shakespeare and the playful spirit contained in his works. We leave Gdansk stronger, more confident, and with a greater desire to begin shaping the Shakespeare Festival in Catalonia.