As part of InResidence 2026, we selected Polina Borodina (Russia/Germany) to develop the project "Five Minutes Younger" over a two-month residency. During her residency, the artist will focus on writing a new full-length play.

"Five Minutes Younger" follows a man searching for his sister, who disappeared while walking the Camino de Santiago. In an attempt to find her, he follows the same route through Portugal and Spain, moving through the landscapes she once saw and tracing the marks she left behind. Along the way, he encounters the kindness of strangers, yet feels compelled to question every gesture, as if doubting them might bring him closer to the truth.

Exploring absence, family conflict and human violence, the play examines what we are capable of when faced with the disappearance of someone close to us, and with the impossibility of understanding certain actions. Although set along the Camino de Santiago, "Five Minutes Younger" moves away from the narratives commonly associated with the pilgrimage: it is not a story of spiritual searching, but a play about family, loss and the nature of violence.