(Re)Search Havel in Warsaw

March 20th- March 22nd 2026

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Archa – Center for Documentary Theatre is launching an international project in collaboration with the theatre Komuna Warszawa and with the support of the Czech Centre in Warsaw.

From March 20 to 22, Jana Svobodová and video artist Martin Krupa will lead an opening workshop at Komuna, which will also serve as an audition for the project with the working title The (Re)Search Havel. Ondřej Hrab will give a lecture on the roots of socially specific and documentary theatre.

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In the past, the founders of Archa created several projects in which Václav Havel actively collaborated with them. These included participatory projects directed by Jana Svobodová: Misunderstanding 68 and Šance 89 (Window of Opportunity). It was a theatrical format combining stage metaphor with contemporary debate. Among others, Václav Havel himself took part in these discussions live on stage. In 2008, Ondřej Hrab, then director of Archa Theatre, produced the world premiere of Havel’s play Leaving with great success. With the project (Re)Search Havel, Jana Svobodová and Ondřej Hrab return after many years to what might be called the “Havel theme.”

Dramaturgically, they will collaborate on the project with Polish bohemist, diplomat, and former dissident Andrzej Jagodziński, the director of the Czech Centre in Warsaw Petr Vlček, the director of Komuna Warszawa Grzegorz Laszuk, and others.

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The project will mainly involve young Polish artists who will draw inspiration for the performance not only from Havel’s plays and essays but also from the fragile and mysterious personality of Václav Havel.

During the two-day workshop at Komuna, the artistic team will invite a group of Polish artists into their artistic laboratory. Participants interested in the project will experience creative work through experimentation in a video art workshop and will become familiar with a creative methodology based on authentic personal stories and the technique of multiple perspectives.

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The teams of Archa and Komuna Warszawa will select four participants who will take part in an Art Camp at the rural residential centre Stodolio.

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After two creative residencies in Stodolio, the entire team will return in November for rehearsals at Komuna, where the premiere of the new documentary theatre production will take place.

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The aim is to create a performance accessible to a broad public.

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