15th INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL RETROPERSPEKTWY: SUBVERSIONS
August 20-30, 2026 | CHOREA Theatre
The world today is in a state of constant subversion. Languages, relationships, borders, modes of communication and our perception of reality are all changing. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a fixed point. It is becoming increasingly easy to lose one’s bearings. Perhaps this is precisely why we need art today more than ever. Not as an escape, but as a space for confrontation, experience and the rediscovery of sensitivity.
International Theatre Festival Retroperspektywy, which has been organised by the CHOREA Theatre since 2010, creates a space for artists who are not afraid of risk, experimentation and pushing the boundaries of form. For theatre, music, dance and performance that do not stop at aesthetics, but seek to touch upon what truly moves contemporary people.
SUBVERSIONS is the motto of this year’s 15th edition of the Retroperspektywy Festival. It is a conscious reversal of perspective. It is an attempt to look at things differently. To step beyond what is safe and predictable.
SUBVERSIONS is a gesture of artistic defiance against simplifications, stereotypes and a reality that increasingly eludes our sensibilities. We are interested in activities that involve risk, uncertainty, provocation, humour and experimentation. Those that allow us to maintain a distance from reality, whilst helping to rebuild a sense of empathy, responsibility and community.
SUBVERSIONS is movement. Both physical and mental. An acceptance of losing one’s balance, which is sometimes necessary to regain mindfulness.
Festival Retroperspektywy 2026: SUBVERSIONS, in addition to sensational theatre, dance and music events, also features activities related to New Circus. This is an art form rarely seen in Łódź, rooted in the traditions of acrobatics and spectacle, yet consciously rejecting the old circus model based solely on entertainment. New Circus combines acrobatics, dance, theatre, music and the visual arts, creating performances of a more poetic, emotional and contemporary nature. It is an art form based on movement, tension, precision and risk, yet also on trust, collaboration and physical presence.
Festival Retroperspektywy 2026: SUBVERSIONS is made of artistic events that are not afraid of error, uncertainty or experimentation. They are the kind that provoke thought, rather than attempt to impose order. They are the kind that allow us to pause for a moment and view reality from a different angle.
SUBVERSIONS are an invitation to lose your footing for a moment, roll your eyes, or look at the world from a different perspective - perhaps by standing on your head.
