18:00 - 20:15

Peformance: FAUST
Ziller Building – Main Stage

20:30 - 22:45

Performance: Inheritance (Part A)
Ziller Building – Stage “Nikos Kourkoulos”

21:00 - 22:30

Performance: Production from an emerging artist [TBA]
Experimental Stage – Emerging Artists
Rex Theatre – Stage “Katina Paxinou”

15:00 - 16:00

ETC Board Meeting [for the ETC Board of Directors only]

16:00 - 17:00

Welcome Desk

16:15 - 16:45

Buddy Meeting [For new Member Theatres and designated 'Buddies’ only]

17:00 - 18:00

Opening Reception
Join us for the kick-off of the event and opening speeches, as we set the stage for an engaging and inspiring series of sessions, discussions and performances.

With:

• Theodoros Terzopoulos, Theatre Director and Author of the 2025 Message for World Theatre Day
• Cláudia Belchior, President of European Theatre Convention & Executive General Coordinator at the Centro Cultural de Belém 
• ...more TBA!

18:00 - 20:10

Performance: Three Sisters
Ziller Building – Plagia Skini

20:30 - 23:20

Performance: The Inheritance (Part B)
Ziller Building – Stage “Nikos Kourkoulos”

21:00 - 22:15

Performance: FAUST
Ziller Building – Main Stage

09:00 - 10:00

Welcome Desk

10:00 - 11:30

Panel #1: Theatre, Democracy and Civil Society: Keeping the Flame Alive
How can theatre protect civil society and democratic values, acting as a safeguard against threats posed by the election of nationalist parties across Europe? Can our artistic choices counteract disinformation and support the fight for creative freedom? Should theatres harness growing trust in the European Union – and general optimism about the EU – as we support each other and invest in European collaboration? ‘Theatre, Democracy and Civil Society: Keeping the Flame Alive’ will bring together high-level speakers from Greece and aboard to consider the political and philosophical context currently facing European theatres, and our vision for the people of Europe.

With:

• Katerina Evangelatos, Theatre and Opera Director & Artistic Director of the Athens Epidaurus Festival
• Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, Professor and Chair of Theatre Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign & 14th President of the International Association of Theatre Critics

Input from ETC Members and Vladislav Troitsky, Actor, Director and Dramaturg, Dakh Theatre - Centre of Contemporary Art

11:30 - 12:00

Q&A Session for Panel #1: Theatre, Democracy and Civil Society: Keeping the Flame Alive

12:00 - 12:30 

Coffee Break

12:30 - 13:00

The Road Ahead: Break the Mould in 2025
What is coming up at ETC over the next six months? Discover exclusive possibilities for funding, artistic innovation and new European collaborations as part of ETC's EU-funded programme, BREAK THE MOULD. Featuring the launch of new grants and training across our programmes on digital, diverse, sustainable and next generation theatre.

13:00 - 13:30

Project Pitching
ETC Member Theatres present concrete project ideas, look for partners and call for artistic collaborations.

13:30 - 15:00

Lunch Break

15:00 - 16:00

General Assembly [ETC Members only]

incl. Who is in the Room? Networking Exercice
An informal exercise between Conference participants that involves a bit of moving chairs. Organised by the ETC team.

16:00 - 16:30

Coffee Break

16:00 - 17:30

16:00 - 17:00: Get Involved: Choose a path for European Collaboration through BREAK THE MOULD
This session offers participants a dedicated space to connect with peers, exchange ideas, and discuss potential collaborations on projects, providing an opportunity for direct networking and in-depth discussions to foster future partnerships.

 

• ETC Theatre Green Book: Creative Solution Lab
  An interactive session where participants share the challenges they face in their theatres ahead of time. Together, we’ll brainstorm creative solutions as a group.
• Partner up! ETC Connection Hub
  Share which ETC projects interest you, and we’ll help connect you with other ETC members who can provide insights and collaborate with you. This session is a space for you to develop and shape future projects together.
• European Theatre Awards: How to Get Involved
  ETC is drafting a project proposal for organizing the European Theatre Prize. During this session, we’ll discuss the concept and explore how you can participate as national hubs.

 

17:00 - 17:30: Key Takeaways

18:00 - 20:10

Performance: Three Sisters
Ziller Building – Plagia Skini

18:00 - 19:30

Performance: Production from an emerging artist [TBA]
Experimental Stage – Emerging Artists
Rex Theatre – Stage “Katina Paxinou”

20:30 - 23:15

Performance: Inheritance (Part A)
Ziller Building – Stage “Nikos Kourkoulos”

21:00 - 22:30

Performance: Caryatid!
Rex Theatre – Stage “Eleni Papadaki”

21:00 - 22:30

Performance: Production from an emerging artist [TBA]
Experimental Stage – Emerging Artists
Rex Theatre – Stage “Katina Paxinou”

09:15

Bus pick-up in front of the National Theatre of Greece

10:00 - 12:00

Keynote: Prof. Savas Patsalidis, Aristotle University & Editor-in-Chief Critical Stages/Scènes critiques

 

Panel #2: How Theatre Can THRIVE in 2025
European Theatres are experts at adapting to disruptions. But as the crises and challenges pile up, exactly what sort of conditions are needed for theatre? What sort of leadership and working conditions should be promoted? Can we take more steps to protect mental health and diversify audiences? How do we balance the need to provide more opportunities for the next generation in making structural changes adapted to the changed reality? In this panel discussion, experts in leadership, diversity, mental health and working conditions will reflect on how theatres can THRIVE in 2025.

With:

• Lotta Lekvall, CEO of Folkteatern Goteborg
• Tom Leick-Burns, Artistic Director and General Manager Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg & ETC Secretary
• Pr. Dr. Shuyan Liu, Professor for Global Mental Health; Head of the Department of Neuroscientific Population Science (PONS) and the Environment and Mental Health Working Group
• ...more TBA!

11:45 - 12:15

Q&A Session for Panel #2: How Theatre Can THRIVE in 2025

12:15 - 12:45

Visit to the Drama School of the National Theatre - Irini Papa School

12:45 - 14:00

Lunch Break

14:00 - 14:30

Agora
Key takeaways by Members.

14:30 - 16:00

Peer-to-Peer Learning Sessions
ETC Members and Conference participants discuss issues faced in the everyday working life – ranging from community engagement and leadership to the diversification of audiences and working conditions – with theatre peers from across Europe. Up to four sessions will take place in two rounds, each focused on specific topics. The conversation will be led by ETC Members.

• Leadership with Lotta Lekvall, CEO of Folkteatern Goteborg
  What are the major challenges for theatre leaders in 2025? How well-prepared are leaders in theatre and the performing arts? What competencies and capabilities are needed? 
• Future Generations & Diverse Audiences with Tom Leick-Burns, Artistic Director and General Manager Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg & ETC Secretary
  How to create genuine connections with hard-to-reach communities.
• Mental Health with Pr. Dr. Shuyan Liu, Professor for Global Mental Health; Head of the Department of Neuroscientific Population Science (PONS) and the Environment and Mental Health Working Group
  While it is now commonplace to talk more openly about mental health, have theatres integrated these changes into how their institutions operate? 
• Working Conditions
  Older and younger generations alike are benefitting from an understanding of the need to protect work-life balance. Explore the sorts of working conditions fit for theatres in 2025.

16:00 - 16:30 

Key Takeaways from the Peer-to-Peer Learning Sessions

16:30 - 17:00

Bus pick-up to the Horos Theatre

18:00 - 19:00 

Performance: Pandora
Horos Theatre

18:00 - 20:15

Performance: FAUST
Ziller Building – Main Stage

20:30 - 23:20

Performance: The Inheritance (Part B)
Ziller Building – Stage “Nikos Kourkoulos”

21:00 - 20:00 

Performance: Pandora
Horos Theatre

20:30 

Joint Dinner at Salero Wine Restaurant
Valtetsiou 51, Athens 106 81

09:30 - 12:30

Project Meeting: A Space of Freedom - Accessibility to Theatre [closed session]

10:00 - 13:00

Project Meeting: Journalism & Theatre [closed session]

13:00 - 15:00

Lunch Break

15:00 - 16:20

Performance: Nils Holgersson, Lilika and the four PIs
Children Stage - Ziller Building - Hall

16:30 - 17:00

Conference Closing

17:00 - 23:10

Performance: Inheritance (Part A + B)
Ziller Building – Stage “Nikos Kourkoulos”

Individual departures