88 theatres, 42 countries, 200 participants
3 to 7 April | National Theatre of Greece

Making Greek theatre more visible and establishing a dynamic presence in the battle for democracy and artistic freedom

 

The hosting of the 3rd NTG Showcase, the European Theatre Convention Conference and the Meeting of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Theatre Critics, which took place from 3 to 7 April at the National Theatre of Greece, was a tremendous international celebration of theatre, establishing a dynamic and timely presence in the battle for democracy and artistic freedom. It was also an important moment for the country’s flagship theatre, which was transformed into a forum for international stakeholders to come together and consider the burning issues that affect culture on a global level. Key actions and discussions put theatre at the heart of defending democratic and humanistic values in 2025.

A total of 200 stage professionals – artistic directors, directors, dramaturgs, heads of international relations, curators, critics and scholars – from 42 countries and 88 theatre organisations gathered at the Ziller Building and the Irene Papas School of Athens. While becoming better acquainted with Greek theatre, they also united their voices in underlining the role of European theatre as a means of serious resistance to censorship and political interventions in artistic creation and as a space for open dialogue and new partnerships.

At the opening ceremony of the four-day event, Deputy Minister of Culture Iasonas Fotilas stated: “It is my great pleasure to be here today, representing the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, at the opening of a dynamic four-day event organised by the National Theatre of Greece. These combined actions are designed to capture the pulse of theatrical creation and to lead it in practice on an outward-looking path, promoting the Greek theatrical scene, creating the conditions for connecting with the community and creators, and discussing issues that have negative effects in the theatre and consequently in society.”

Argyro Chioti, Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Greece, emphasised: “I hope that these days of meetings, discussions, and exchanges will be a source of inspiration and renewal for all of us. I firmly believe that theatres, especially in critical, dark times like the one we are going through globally, must be able to create active communities, to ask key questions, and to offer small utopias — alternative ways of thinking and being.”

In detail

3rd NTG Showcase
The Showcase welcomed 25 artistic directors, curators and programmers from major foreign festivals and theatres, who were given the opportunity to attend all the NTG’s current productions, to hear from their creators about the productions presented in the first part of the season, to meet some of the artists involved in them, to explore the possibility of future collaborations and co-productions, and to exchange views on current international trends in the theatre.

The initiative, which is being undertaken by the NTG for a third consecutive year, aims to increase the visibility of Greek theatre abroad, to make the most of an important opportunity to make Greek cultural creation more outward-looking, and to provide the opportunity for NTG productions to travel abroad, hosted by or co-produced with major theatres in Europe and beyond.

The annual Showcase is part of the “National Theatre of Greece Outreach Initiatives” implemented in the framework of the “Greece 2.0” National Recovery and Resilience Plan with funding from the European Union (NextGenerationEU).

 

The Conference of the European Theatre Convention
The conference of the European Theatre Convention, the largest network of theatres in Europe, was held under the title “Thrive Theatre Thrive! Keep the Flame Alive”. It saw the announcement of the first pan-European campaign for art and democracy, “RESISTANCE NOW TOGETHER”, which will be a critical intervention in the context of increasing political pressure and attacks on cultural autonomy, a united front to strengthen culture, and a diverse platform for artistic voices, performances and public debates to mount a global resistance to rising nationalism. See the campaign manifesto here . For additional information see here.

In his speech, theatre director and author of the message for World Theatre Day 2025, Theodoros Terzopoulos, said: “I would like to refer to the extraordinary occurrence on the night of 22 October 2019, when, in the dead calm of the curfew in Santiago, Chile, a soprano came out onto a balcony and sang a moving aria. Residents leaned out of windows, came onto balconies, and applauded. The event, like an electric current, was transmitted from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, the soprano continued to sing, the applause multiplied, until it became a rhythmic assertion of a demand. Muller’s machine was created, the spotlight of life shone on the future, while the theatre spotlight deceptively continues to shine on itself.”

Claudia Belchior, President of the European Theatre Convention, said: “As a community and as ETC members, we will not apologise for being political; we will not be neutral in the face of oppression. We will protect the space for complexity, contradiction, imagination, and dissent. Because that is what theatre has always been — and must always be. This is not a time for caution. This is a time for courage. This is a time to remind the world that theatre is not a luxury — it is a necessity.”

Speaking about the conference at the National Theatre of Greece, Heidi Wiley, ETC Executive Director, stated: “Our conference here at the National Theatre of Greece in Athens, the cradle of theatre and democracy, sends out strong signals to Europe and the world. Together, we have three major strengths to make the power of theatre visible: the power of words, our network, and our common values. The new “RESISTANCE NOW TOGETHER” campaign embodies these three strengths and we will use this in dialogue with European politicians on their mission to protect free culture and theatre for the next decades to come.”

Milo Rau, the internationally renowned Swedish theatre director, writer, and Artistic Director of the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna, spoke via video: “If we do not act collectively now, in a little while we will simply not have funding. We will reach the point where our cultural organisations as we know them no longer exist, either because artists and staff will be fired or because organisations will have to shut down. This has already begun and is happening now. So we must definitely move forward united, drawing strength from each other.”

The conference was enriched by important contributions and speeches from Katerina Evangelatos, theatre and opera director and Artistic Director of the Athens Epidaurus Festival; Dr. Shuyan Liu, Professor of Global Mental Health, Head of the Centre for Population Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine (PONS) and of the Environment and Mental Health research group; Ekaterina Mazmishvili, General Manager of the Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre in Georgia; Eleonora Rossi, Director of Théâtre Grrranit in Belfort, France; Karla Mäder, Head of Dramaturgy at Deutsches Theater Berlin in Germany; Barbara Ferrato, Production, Programming and Development Manager at the Fondazione del Teatro Stabile di Torino and ETC Board Member; Viktoria Shvydko, Deputy for Development at the Lesia Ukrainka Academic Drama Theatre in Lviv; Vladislav Troitsky, actor, director and dramaturg at the Dakh Contemporary Arts Theatre; Savvas Patsalidis, Professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Editor-in-Chief of Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques; Lotta Lekvall, CEO of Folkteatern in Gothenburg; Tom Leick-Burns, Artistic Director and General Manager of Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg & ETC Secretary; Charlotte Orti von Havranek, Curator and Artistic Director of the Fast Forward Festival at the Staatsschauspiel Dresden; Isabel Andreen, International Development Manager at the Théâtre National de Bretagne; and Marina Maleni, Theatre Development Officer at the Cyprus Theatre Organisation (Thoc) and ETC Board Member. Finally, human rights lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, joined the conference online.

During the four-day event, ETC members had the opportunity to participate in a range of specially designed workshops, discussions and activities, to present their future plans and to hold their General Assembly, while at the same time watching all the NTG’s current productions as part of the 3rd Showcase.

 

International Association of Theatre Critics
Thirteen members of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC), a partner organisation of the International Theatre Institute (ITI - UNESCO), watched current NTG productions in order to cover them in features and articles in the international online and print media. The purpose of the IATC is to promote critical and academic writing on theatre and to protect intellectual freedom and freedom of speech, bringing together critics, scholars and professionals from the performing arts. During the four-day event, the annual meeting of the Association’s Executive Committee (ExCom) was held at the iconic Ziller Building, the first time it had taken place in Greece.

In his speech, Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, Professor and Chair of Theatre Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign & 14th President of the IATC, stated: “In an era of disinformation, theatre must reclaim its role. We must create works that invite audiences to wrestle with difficult questions rather than retreat into ideological comfort zones. [...] Theatre thrives in the cracks authoritarianism cannot seal. As long as there are stories to tell, as long as there are voices willing to speak, we must persist. To act, to write, to design — these are not merely creative acts. They are acts of resistance.”

 

Artistic Residency Programme – Presentations
Finally, the three European artists hosted in Athens since last January under the National Theatre of Greece’s Artistic Residency programme presented their works in progress to the participants at the Irene Papas School of Athens: Orpheus / Eurydice, written and directed by Tobias Klett, and Those Who Watch, written by Eva Mir and directed by Teodora Petre, were performed by Greek actors. The NTG’s outward-looking cultural exchange initiative promotes mobility and supports the new generation of theatre artists in Europe.

 

The Residencies Programme is one of the “National Theatre of Greece Outreach Initiatives” (code ΟΠΣ ΤΑ 5167037) implemented in the framework of the “Greece 2.0” National Recovery and Resilience Plan with funding from the European Union (NextGenerationEU).

Latest updated: 14/04/2025