Anna Ilczuk

The heroine and narrator of Mała empiria / A Small Empiricism tries to grasp the specific nature of middle age. It is a moment suspended between youth and old age, when you are still independent of others, yet you experience others, such as your own parents, being dependant on you. The world seems at your hand’s reach, yet you no longer have the motivation to reach for anything that would require effort and stepping outside the comfort zone built up over the years. Ewelina Żak, an actress known to Kraków audiences for her nuanced, subtle, and witty performances guides us in this production through a series of everyday epiphanies that turn our attention towards the elusive, and perhaps even the metaphysical. She skilfully builds a rapport with the audience, seeking common ground: whatever in the heroine’s experience can become such ground. Yet she does not do that at the cost of sidestepping difficult and painful subjects.

The production is based on an applauded essay by Katarzyna Sobczuk, who wove her literary narrative from close observation of her own life, as well as the lives of her friends and her elderly parents. Her text shows that old age is not a land to which fate suddenly banishes us. It is a process of becoming different from who we have been: of changing tastes and habits, and of a shifting web of relationships in which we live. The production is directed by Anna Ilczuk, an actor well known to audiences from the productions of Krystian Lupa and Anna Smolar, among others. As a director, Ilczuk demonstrates a gift for building intensity within the intimate situation that unfolds between the actress and the audience.

Text by: Katarzyna Sobczuk
Adapted and directed by: Anna Ilczuk
Music: Maciej Zakrzewski, Kontrabas (Live Double Bass): Radosław Łukaszewicz
Set and Costume Design: Mateusz Stępniak
Choreographic Consultant: Wojciech Grudziński
Lighting and Video Design: Artur Sienicki
Production Manager: Ewa Grzebyk
Stage Manager: Zuzanna Prusińska
Cast: Ewelina Żak 
Produced by: STUDIO teatrgaleria in Warsaw
Premiere: March 2025