He has a PhD in Polish philology, which he studied at the University of Wrocław and he is a graduate of the Faculty of Drama Directing at the Warsaw Theatre Academy. He was a literary manager at the Siemaszko Theatre in Rzeszów (2003-2005) and a programme consultant at the Adam Mickiewicz Theatre in Częstochowa (2004-2005). In 1997-2002 he published his texts in "Teatr", "Dialog", "Notatnik Teatralny".
He began his directing career at the Aleksander Węgierko Theatre in Białystok. In 2000 he prepared Juliusz Słowacki's Balladyna and Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. Soon, at the Polish Theatre in Wrocław, he directed his first play – the poetic Katarantka (2001) – an account of the pain and suffering of an older, blind woman who lives alone surrounded by trinkets. The monologue, memories and dreams of the heroine reflected her life, at the end of which she was alone, also through her own fault. Man's next drama is about the inability to communicate in a relationship. Historia Pewnej Miłości (The Story of a Certain Love, trans. by A.P.) was inspired by Dostoyevsky's A Gentle Creature. Man staged the play at the Polish Theatre in Poznań (2001). Just like in the case of Katarantka, the director played with minimalism on stage, placing the actors and text in the foreground.
"Good show" – Ewa Obrębowska-Piasecka noted after the premiere – "simple, ordinary, honest, interesting and wise, because it left us with questions and not answers, because it made us smile, think, listen." ("Gazeta Wyborcza-Poznań" 2001, no. 288)
In 2004, at the Tadeusz Słobodzianek Drama Laboratory, Man wrote a drama entitled 111 – a story about a seemingly normal family where a son shoots his parents dead. The play was directed by Redbad Klynstra and entered the repertoire of the National Theatre in Warsaw. Recently, Tomasz Man has shown his own stage interpretation of the story of the childhood and adolescence of the killer boy. He staged 111 at the Horzyca Theatre in Toruń (2007). Grzegorz Giedrys noted:
Man shows precisely that readiness for crime is born in childhood. This decision matures in man sometimes because of a seemingly trivial parental error ("Gazeta Wyborcza-Toruń" 2007, no. 295).
For the Helena Modrzejewska Theatre in Legnica, together with Krzysztof Bizio, Man wrote Deszcze (Rains, trans. by A.P.) in 2005. It is a story about five families living in one Legnica tenement house at different times. The play was directed by Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz. The play closed his urban trilogy and was written after the famous Ballada o Zakaczawiu (Ballad of Zakaczawie, trans. by A.P.). and Wschody i Zachody Miasta (Sunrises and Sunsets in the Ciy, trans. by A.P.). A year later his monodrama 3 x 2 was staged in Stara ProchOFFnia by Piotr Łazarkiewicz.
In 2007 he directed a TV drama for the Polish Television based on his play Dobrze (OK, trans. by A.P.) with Marian Opania, Wiktor Zborowski and Marcin Hycner in the leading roles. He talked about his optimistic play:
The play Dobrze – as the title itself indicates, is about positive thinking on a daily basis. It is sometimes difficult to just say to oneself that everything’s OK, despite the many things that keep falling on our shoulders. But I think that it is precisely this natural, even reflex-like, often seemingly indifferent word: "okay" widens perspectives and gives us a chance to get out of even the worst of troubles. It's also a magic spell my grandfather used to cast, so I dedicate this play to him.
In the following years, Dobrze was also staged at the Cyprian Kamil Norwid Theatre in Jelenia Góra and the New Theatre in Łódź.
Man is also the author of children's plays – his Snow White was staged by Aleksander Maksymiak at the Banialuka Puppet Theatre in Bielsko-Biała in 2014, while a year later he directed the play Zostań Przyjacielem (Become a Friend, trans. by A.P.) at the Miniatura Theatre in Gdańsk – a musical story about the friendship of a penguin and a turtle.
Man also reached for other people's texts, primarily contemporary Polish drama. He staged Krzysztof Bizio's plays several times – Porozmawiajmy o Życiu i Śmierci (Let's Talk about Life and Death, trans. by A.P.) at the Contemporary Theatre in Szczecin in 2001, and the Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw in 2004), Lament at the Powszechny Theatre in Łódź in 2003, Śmieci (Garbage, trans. by A.P.) at the Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw in 2005 and Gabloty (Showcases, trans. by A.P.) at the National Theatre in 2006. He directed Michał Walczak's plays, Piaskownica (The Sandbox, trans. by A.P.), staged at the Mickiewicz Theatre in Częstochowa in 2004 and Podróż do Wnętrza Pokoju (A Journey into the Room, trans. by A.P.) at the PWST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Wrocław in 2006, as well as Marek Koterski's The Day of the Wacko at the Municipal Theatre in Gdynia in 2006. From Western dramas he chose, among others, Werner Schwab's The Presidents (Krypta Theatre in Szczecin, 2002), Neil LaBute's Shape of Things (Siemaszkowa Theatre in Rzeszów, 2003) and Dario Fo's The Virtuous Burglar (Kochanowski Theatre in Opole, 2006). At the Lubuskie Theatre in Zielona Góra, he produced the contemporary play Harpagon based on Molière's The Miser (2005) and Shakespeare's King Lear (2007). He is also the author of an adaptation of Bohumil Hrabal's prose. The performance Too Loud a Solitude was produced in 2003 at the Warsaw Studio Theatre.
Tomasz Man was the founder of the Pod Gryfami Theatre in Wrocław. In 2003, he staged there a dramaturgically developed blog of an anonymous internet user Żona Mnie Opierniczyła (My Wife Has Scolded Me, trans. by A.P.), Historia Pewnej Miłości and Oskar i Ruth (Oscar and Ruth, trans. by A.P.) by Ingmar Villqist.
Tomasz Man has been closely associated with the Polish Radio Theatre for years. His first production was Matka i Lampart (Mother and Leopard, trans. by A.P.) with Ewa Dałkowska and Adam Woronowicz (2005), a story about a difficult relationship between an unfulfilled mother and a musically talented son. In the following years he also wrote and produced a grotesque story of a woman in love with a Swedish band Moja ABBA (My ABBA, trans. by A.P.) with Justyna Szafran, Sandra Korzeniak and Andrzej Chyra (2011), a biography of a German artist Hans Bellmer Świat Jest Skandalem (The World Is a Riot, trans. by A.P.) with Zygmunt Malanowicz in the lead role; a bitter story about emigration Exodus with Natalia Rybicka and Magdalena Popławska (2014). His latest production was a contemporary, original story about Faust with Chyra, Maja Ostaszewska and Marek Kalita (2015).
Awards:
2002 – Award of the People's Scientific and Cultural Society for collective creation for the creators of Krzysztof Bizio's play Porozmawiajmy o Życiu i Śmierci from Teatr Współczesny in Szczecin at the 37th Kontrapunkt National Review of Small Form Theatres in Szczecin,
2005 – award for the original script – for the text of the radio play Matka i Lampart at the 5th Festival of Polish Radio and Television Theatre "Two Theatres" in Sopot,
2006 – the Zielona Góra Leon 2006 - award for the best performance of the season – Harpagon based on Molière's Miser from the Lubuskie Kruczkowski Theatre in Zielona Góra.
Author: Monika Mokrzycka-Pokora, February 2008, updated by NMR, June 2016; translated by A.P., November 2019.