In “She Stands in the Middle of a Battlefield”, Polish theatre director Magda Szpecht searches for words and ways to express the feeling of seeing a friend and sister go to war – and yet still wanting to support her. She learns about everyday life on the Ukrainian front through text and voice messages. And also about how camaraderie, idealism, and sexism overlap. Within a multi-layered score featuring new images of war, fragments from open-source research, personal letters, and soundscapes, a space for resonance opens up for what often remains unheard. The piece oscillates between the bitter realisation of being trapped as a woman in a hyper-patriarchal system, the military, and the simultaneous irrevocability of this decision. Madga Szpecht tells the story of an artist who becomes a soldier. She feels her way through the everyday life of war, reconstructing rituals, contradictions, exhaustion—and asking the question that pervades everything: Who claims her body?
Infos
- Age: recommended for ages 16 and up
- Duration: 80 minutes
- Language: English and Polish with German and English surtitles
- February 20: Artist Talk with Maryna Shevtsova following the performance
- Introduction on both evenings Konfliktdymaniken im Krieg gegen die Ukraine 7 p.m., Studio 1
Sponsors and Supporters
Directed by, script: Magda Szpecht
Dramaturgy, script: Szymon Adamczak
Set design, lighting, costumes: Karolina Pawelczyk
Video: Karolina Pawelczyk, Michał Rogulski
Music, sound design: Krzysztof Kaliski
Production: Michał Rogulski ÆFEKT
Performed by: Agata Różycka
Production: ÆFEKT, Bazaar Festival Prague, Drama Theatre
Partner of the performance: Adam Mickiewicz Institute
A production by ÆFEKT, Bazaar Festival Prague, and Drama Theatre, Warsaw, in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
Content Note
The performance contains vulgar language, sound and light effects (laser light, flashes of light) that may cause discomfort, and smoke and electronic cigarettes are used.
Biography
Magda Szpecht is a multi-award-winning director and author of performances and installations. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Szpecht has also been involved in cyber activism. In works such as “Cyber Elf” (2022), “Spy Girls” (2024) and “She Stands in the Middle of the Battlefield” (2025), she combines theatre, journalism and digital counter-propaganda into a performative practice at the intersection of art and political action. Magda Szpecht lives in Warsaw.