The Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow

Feliks Szajnert

It started out trivially. Against my parents’ will, in my penultimate year in high school, I decided to become an actor. Fifty-seven years have passed and I don’t regret it. In the meantime, I’ve built a house, had 3 sons, and planted a lot of trees. It’s been all right.

Biography

Born in 1944, graduate of PWSFTviT National Film School in Łódź. He worked for the Wojciech Bogusławski Theatre in Kalisz (1965-1969), the Dolnośląski Theatre in Jelenia Góra (1969-70), the Stefan Jaracz Theatre in Olsztyn (1970-73), the Polski Theatre in Szczecin (1973-1974), and the Ludowy Theatre in Krakow (1974).

Since 1974, he has been part of the ensemble of the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, where he was cast in: Mikołaj of Wilkowiecko’s Historyjq o chwalebnym Zmartwychwstaniu Pańskim [The Story of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord] directed by Kazimierz Dejmek (1976), Mikhail Bulgakov’s Molière, or the Cabal of Hypocrites directed by Jerzy Zegalski (1977), Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull directed by Krystyna Skuszanka (1980), Pierre A. Beaumarchais’ The Marriage of Figaro directed by Anna Polony (1992), William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar directed by Jerzy Goliński (1993), Juliusz Słowacki’s The Constant Prince directed by Andrzej Pawłowski (1998), Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot directed by Barbara Sass (2002), Juliusz Słowacki’s Kordian directed by Janusz Wiśniewski (2006), Stanisław Wyspiański’s The Wedding directed by Bodolay (2007), Bram Soker’s Dracula directed by Artur Tyszkiewicz (2008), Władysław Reymont’s The Promised Land directed by Wojciech Kościelniak (2011), Każdy musi kiedyś umrzeć Porcelanko, czyli rzecz o Wojnie Trojańskiej [Everyone Must Die One Day, Dear Porcelain, or a Comment on the Trojan War] directed by Agata Duda-Gracz (2013), Sławomir Mrożek’s The Carnival or Adam’s First Wife directed by Bogdan Ciosek (2013), Stanisław Wyspiański’s Liberation directed by Radosław Rychcik (2017).

Guest actor at the STU Theatre and at the Capitol Theatre in Wrocław. His accomplishments include award-winning monodramas.

He has played in numerous Polish feature films and TV series.

His role as Coleman in M. McDonagh’s play The Lonesome West (directed by Katarzyna Deszcz) was awarded a distinction at the 1^st Festival of Contemporary Playwriting in Zabrze, and at the 5^th Comedy Festival ‘Talia’ in Tarnów. He also played numerous roles in film and television, including Television Theatre.

In 1983, he received the Silver Cross of Merit, and a medal of Merit in the Service of Culture. In March 2012, he was awarded the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture ‘Gloria Artis’.