FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Theatre is Freedom | Teatr to Wolność

The Tempest: Teatr Biuro Podróży

For three weeks this September, the programme at Bell Square throws itself into a joyous celebration of Polish outdoor theatre. The festival is called Theatre is Freedom | Teatr to Wolność

So why this festival and why now?

Ultimately, the Bell Square programme is about London, about the extraordinary diversity of people and communities in this city. The programme aims to reflect, showcase and share the wide range of cultures we have here.

In Hounslow, we are fortunate to have a strong Polish community. So, at Bell Square, Polish theatre has appeared regularly, with some of the most memorable performances we’ve had over many years brought to us by these amazing Polish theatre companies.

This year, across the whole country, there is a special collaboration between the UK and Poland happening. This UK/Poland 2025 Season is supporting hundreds of UK-based artists to present their work in Poland and, similarly, Polish artists to come and perform here.

In the context of this UK/Poland 2025 Season, a major celebration of Polish outdoor theatre at Bell Square was just too tempting to resist!

But there's more. The festival is also about Europe, about our shared history and about the world we're living in now.

When I am working on the future programmes for Bell Square, I travel to festivals to find great shows. Over the last few years, I’ve been to many festivals in Poland, especially in Krakow, Poznan and Warsaw. When I’m there, I also meet and talk to many of the artists and companies who you will later see performing at Bell Square.

Whenever I talk to these Polish theatre companies, especially the very established ones, it is clear that the concept of freedom is a potent backdrop to their very being. Most of the famous companies came onto the scene in the 1960s, 70s, 80s as Poland battled for its independence. At the time, those young theatre makers were using culture to protest against the constraints and oppression of communism.

In 2 weeks-time, we welcome Teatr Biuro Podrozy - or Travel Agency Theatre. When they formed in the 1980s, very few people in Poland were able to obtain passports. As the rest could travel only in their imagination, the ironically named Teatr Biuro Podrozy offered an escape through theatre.

And next weekend, Teatr Osmego Dnia come to perform in the festival at Bell Square. This is another very established company, presenting political and socially engaged theatre. To this day, on the front of their venue in Poznan, a huge neon sign lights up the Square at night. It says Wolnosc - or Freedom.

So whilst Poland is a very different, very open and modern country now, freedom is not taken for granted.

And freedom was not just a concern of the 1970s,1980s. War now rages in Ukraine, casting a long shadow over the Polish eastern border. I've been told so many times when I’ve been in Poland that freedom again feels under threat.

And in a different way, it's here in the UK, too. When we started Bell Square twelve years ago, European artists had the right of free movement to come and perform here. It was simple for us to welcome the best European artists to perform at Bell Square. Whatever our thoughts about Brexit, that right, that freedom, is no longer there. Visas, checks, paperwork, permissions and controls have appeared and have to be navigated.

For all these reasons, it feels vital that we do everything we can to support culture that breaks down barriers, that goes across boundaries, that brings us together to contemplate humanity, that shares our different perspectives, that encourages our freedom of thought.

This is why we have Theatre is Freedom | Teatr to Wolność .

All the shows you will see in the festival, in their own different ways, have freedom at their heart.

This last weekend, we had 4 performances and amazing audiences. Feedback after the shows described how much people had enjoyed them and appreciated the extraordinary quality of these outdoor Polish theatre companies. Awesome was the word that came through over and over again.

We have 2 more long weekends of the festival. Do join us – as always, every performance is free and everyone is welcome!

Friday 12 & Saturday 13 September at 8.00 pm: Teatr Osmego Dnia – Lost Dream

Sunday 14 September at 8.00 pm: Teatr Hom – Monsieur Charlie

Friday 19 & Saturday 20 September at 8.00 pm: Teatr Biuro Podrozy – Tempest

Sunday 21 September at 3.00 pm; Konin Dance Theatre – Sztetl

Look forward to seeing you soon at Bell Square!