The Island
- The Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow - The Machine House [Miniature] Stage
- Premiere: 13.03.2026
Nearest dates
Eugenia Balakireva on The Island: ‘My main inspiration for this performance is the story of my family, whose roots lie in the small village of Pachomovo. A village that was flooded in the 1960s when a large reservoir for the Vileika-Minsk water system was constructed in its area. When I was a child, my grandmother would often tell me about her childhood in this village. About her grandparents, family gatherings and how she used to boil eggs in the sand by the lake adjacent to their house. She would tell me about it all with great sadness as she knew that for me it was just another fairy tale, and that I would never be able to experience what she had been deprived of as a child. My mother is certain that these generational migrations, connecting her, my grandmother, my aunt and me (we all live in different countries and do not own our homes), stem from the trauma my grandmother experienced as a result of these events. I do not know if this is true or not. All I know is that my whole life I have longed for something that does not exist, and in this performance I would like to touch on that something, even if only for a fleeting moment.
Inspired by the past and drawing on the present, I would like, however, to try to touch on the future in this performance, which – from the perspective of my generation – does not look very bright. My question is: are we, as humanity, ready for it? Will we pass the test of humanity when entire countries go under water?
