Dr Paweł Sztarbowski has served since 2014 as Deputy Director for Programming at the Zygmunt Hübner Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw. He studied philosophy at the University of Warsaw and Theatre Studies at the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy, and received his PhD in the Humanities from the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where he defended his dissertation Theatre and Solidarity. On the Theatre of Community under the supervision of Professor Krystyna Duniec. Previously, he was Head of Theatre Promotion at the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute (2006–2011) and Deputy Director for Programming at the Polish Theatre in Bydgoszcz, where he also led the Festival of Premieres (2011–2014).

He is the founder of Nowa Siła Krytyczna (New Critical Force) and has written widely on theatre for Polish and international journals. He has edited the volumes Liberated Energy (2011) and Teatr wspólny (2013), and teaches dramaturgy at SWPS University, the Theatre Academy in Warsaw, and the Higher School of Computer Science and Management affiliated with the Polish Academy of Sciences. As a dramaturg, he has collaborated with leading Polish directors and worked on both stage productions and radio dramas. His original play Somosierra received the Grand Prix at the “Two Theatres” Festival in 2011. He is a laureate of the Bydgoszcz Mayor’s Theatre Award (2013) and the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Marshal’s Theatre Award (2014).