"A young playwright often does not understand when something works and when it doesn't. Asked to help out with the play, he finds that he is unable to help the actors. He gets angry when a proposal comes up to make changes in his text. This is the unfortunate heritage of Polish romanticism - this humbling vision of the playwright as a fellow who sits at home and writes out of deep inspiration. This is absurd," says Tadeusz Słobodzianek in his interview with Maja Ruszpel about bringing up the next generation of Polish playwrights.

Maja Ruszpel: Is it possible to live off of writing plays these days? Tadeusz Słobodzianek: If you write a play like Testosteron or Tiramisu, then yes. But even then, you get enough money to last you one year. What do you do the year after that, when the money runs out? In the case of writers from the Laboratorium Dramatu, everybody works. Kaczmarek is a university lecturer. Robert Bolesto has various temp jobs - from cleaning to being a copywriter. Dana Łukasińska works for some company promoting cosmetics. Magda Fertacz works in interior design. It is not possible these days to live off of writing plays for theater. The private sector is only beginning to unwind. As for what we see going on in State owned theater - it's just silly. They pay everybody, but the playwright gets the least. If someone's play is worth performing over and over again, then they could at least give him a full time job with all the perks, couldn't they? Maja Ruszpel: That's no solution. A full time jo