In 1994, Night won the Fringe First Award and Critics’ Award at the Edinburgh Art Festival. It was performed at the same festival a year later at the organisers’ honourary invitation. In the same year of 1995, the performance of Night inaugurated the British Festival of Visual Theatre in London and Nitra International Theatre Festival (Slovakia). In the same review, Kowalczyk remarked:
In spite of the fact that it was ‘Night’ that won two main awards at the Edinburgh Art Festival, Fringe First Award and Critics Award, the performance of ‘Moscow-Pietushki’ appealed more to my imagination. Zygmunt Duczyński, the director, is lucky to work with Jacek Zawadzki. He is a professional actor in his ensemble. In the monodrama ‘Moscow-Pietushki’, Zawadzki proved his outstanding acting skills.
Zygmunt Duczyński was the laureate of the 1994 Artistic Award of the President of the City of Szczecin, and the winner of The Outstanding popularity contest organized by the editorial staff of Głos Szczeciński.
Apart from producing theatrical performances, Zygmunt Duczyński ran the Theatrical Centre. For many years, he was also the Artistic Director of the Bonds of Culture Festival and Okno International Theatre Meetings as well as the initiator of many culture-forming projects. He also inspired the change of name and form of Kontrapunkt – the Polish National Small Theatre Forms Festival and served as a member of the artistic council of this festival.
Duczyński cooperated with many Polish alternative theatre ensembles such as Teatr Ósmego Dnia / Theatre of the Eighth Day, Provisorium, Grupa Chwilowa, music ensembles (Kwartet Jorgi, Dikanda), international theatre centres (Grotowski Centre in Wrocław, Schloss Bröllin) as well as off-the main-stream and students circles. He also worked with adolescent drug addicts as a therapist.
Zygmunt Duczyński was buried in the field of honour at the Central Cemetery in Szczecin.
Major performances directed by Zygmunt Duczyński at the Kana Theatre:
- Być / To Be, 1978;
- Spektakl / Spectacle, 1979;
- Abbadon, 1981;
- Księga o życiu i śmierci i twórczości Osipa Mandelsztama / The Book of Life and Death of Osip Mandelstam, 1982;
- Krótka historia Europy / Abridged History of Europe, 1983;
- Droga / Road, 1984;
- Czarne światła / Black Lights, 1985;
- Bezsenność / Insomnia, 1987;
- Moskwa-Pietuszki / Moscow-Pietushki, 1989;
- Noc / Night, 1993 (Critics’ Award and Fringe First Award won at the Edinburgh Art Festival);
- Szlifierze nocnych diamentów / Night Diamonds Cutters, 1996;
- Ja, Henryk Bilke / I, Henryk Bilke, 2000;
- J.P. odkrywa Amerykę / J.P. Discovers America, 2000;
- Rajski Ptak / Bird of Paradise, 2000 (2003 Main Award at the Polish National Monodrama Festival in Stara Prochoffnia in Warsaw);
- Miłość Fedry / Phaedra’s Love, 2002;
- Widmokrąg (open-air performance), 2003, 2004;
- Geist, 2007 (performance started by Zygmunt Duczyński, and finished after his death by the ensemble in cooperation with director Arkadiusz Buszko, winner of the Audience Award at the 2008 Klamra Alternative Theatre Meetings in Toruń).
Author: Janusz R. Kowalczyk, October 2010. Translated by Katarzyna Różańska, October 2010.