Named after Polish avant-garde playwright, novelist and painter Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, known as Witkacy (1885-1939), the award is given out annually on International Theatre Day, March 27.
The jury praised Hackett as a driving force behind numerous projects aiming to promote Polish culture, theatre in particular, in the United States.
A professor of directing and theatre history at the University of California, Los Angeles, Hackett has produced several plays by Witkacy and by Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz in Los Angeles.
Hackett’s work in Poland includes productions for Warsaw’s Studio Theatre (An American in Warsaw: Songs of George and Ira Gershwin) and the Dramatyczny Theatre (Fallen Angels).
Hackett has directed for the Royal Opera in London’s Covent Garden; the Royal Theatre at The Hague; and the Los Angeles Opera.
(mk/pk)