Biography
ABOUT
Polina was born 1993 in Moscow and spent her childhood in Germany. Her biography has been shaped by repeated moves between Russia and Germany, as well as by her experience as part of the Jewish diaspora.
After completing her directing studies in Moscow, she worked as an independent director in repertory theaters in the Russian-speaking field. In 2021, she became a mother and moved back to Germany with her family, settling in Heidelberg. Parallel to this transition, she began the Master studies "Expanded Theater" in Bern (Switzerland).
Her Master's project, 'Frontstage' - a documentary piece about manhood between game and war, involving a Ukrainian and a Russian actor - was invited to the Heidelberger Stückemarkt in 2024. In the same year, Polina also got selected for the International Forum of the Theatertreffen. In 2025, she directed "My beloved country", an exiled Russian project based on the book by journalist Elena Kostyuchenko. The production premiered at Kunstfest Weimar.
In her work, Polina is interested in how different perspectives encounter one another. The central question is how experiences and texts can be translated, transformed, and reinterpreted across languages and cultural, social, and political contexts. Her work moves between staged productions and documentary-performative research processes. She understands theatre as a condensation of shared reality – as a space in which different perceptions and forms of presence can coexist.
Polina works with both professional actors and non-professional performers. She is a co-founder of the theatre collective OSTsisters (Switzerland), which explores from a feminist perspective how historical processes and political events shape identities. In addition, she leads the Russian-speaking community theatre group “Ludi” (Modellierton e.V. Heidelberg).
Education
2010-2014 Management faculty at the Moscow Art Theatre School (Школа-студия МХАТ)
2014-2018 Theatre directing at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (РАТИ-ГИТИС-Мастерская О.Л.Кудряшова)
2021- 2023 Master program "Expanded Theater" Hochschule der Künste in Bern (Switzerland)
After completing her directing studies in Moscow, she worked as an independent director in repertory theaters in the Russian-speaking field. In 2021, she became a mother and moved back to Germany with her family, settling in Heidelberg. Parallel to this transition, she began the Master studies "Expanded Theater" in Bern (Switzerland).
Her Master's project, 'Frontstage' - a documentary piece about manhood between game and war, involving a Ukrainian and a Russian actor - was invited to the Heidelberger Stückemarkt in 2024. In the same year, Polina also got selected for the International Forum of the Theatertreffen. In 2025, she directed "My beloved country", an exiled Russian project based on the book by journalist Elena Kostyuchenko. The production premiered at Kunstfest Weimar.
In her work, Polina is interested in how different perspectives encounter one another. The central question is how experiences and texts can be translated, transformed, and reinterpreted across languages and cultural, social, and political contexts. Her work moves between staged productions and documentary-performative research processes. She understands theatre as a condensation of shared reality – as a space in which different perceptions and forms of presence can coexist.
Polina works with both professional actors and non-professional performers. She is a co-founder of the theatre collective OSTsisters (Switzerland), which explores from a feminist perspective how historical processes and political events shape identities. In addition, she leads the Russian-speaking community theatre group “Ludi” (Modellierton e.V. Heidelberg).
Education
2010-2014 Management faculty at the Moscow Art Theatre School (Школа-студия МХАТ)
2014-2018 Theatre directing at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (РАТИ-ГИТИС-Мастерская О.Л.Кудряшова)
2021- 2023 Master program "Expanded Theater" Hochschule der Künste in Bern (Switzerland)
Email: polina.aurum@gmail.com