Cyber Elf

“As a cyber elf, I feel that theatre has lost its capacity to confront reality. It is entertainment reserved for the elite in times of peace.” – M. Szpecht

They hide in the convoluted channels of communication platforms like Signal, Telegram and Discord. They work at night, their pointed ears always on alert. Most of them strictly conceal their true identities. Who? Cyber elves. An international group of activities, which, since 2014, has battled Russian propaganda, disinformation and internet trolls. Their task is clear: to scrub the lies from social media feeds and help Ukraine win the war fairly.

At the launch of the 10th edition of Bazaar Festival, spectators will get to know Magda Szpecht, a Polish theatre director and artist who set aside her career to date on the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine and became a cyber elf, through the medium of theatre. In a multimedia performance lecture, she will guide the audience through what she confronts every day in her courageous practice.

The day after the performance, Magda Szpecht will lead a mini-workshop as part of the Sharing Courageous Practices project.

Magda Szpecht is a Polish theatre and opera director. In addition to studying theatre directing in Kraków, she also completed studies in social communication with a specialism in creative writing at the University of Wrocław. Szepcht’s work often explores non-human perspectives and unusual ways of representing reality. When the war in Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, she abandoned her artistic career to become a cyber elf and actively fight Russian disinformation, fake news and propaganda.