Theatertreffen 2026: Worldwide Open Call for the International Forum
The 63rd edition of Berliner Festspiele’s Theatertreffen will take place from 1 to 17 May 2026 at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and other venues in Berlin. In addition to presenting the ten most remarkable productions of the season selected by a jury of critics, since 1965 the festival has also invited theatre makers to take part in the International Forum, a 17-day scholarship programme.
A worldwide open call has been issued today to aspiring artists from all disciplines of the performing arts. The deadline for applications is 30 November 2026.
The International Forum, which has been run by AljoschaBegrich and SimaDjabar Zadegan since 2024, is a platform for global exchange and the promotion of young theatre makers, offering the initial spark for collaborations, searching for nuanced local perspectives to global questions and providing a free space to develop artistic ideas together. Its focus is directed less on the completed work than on those creative processes that precede an artistic work to gain new impulses for individual artistic practice.
In 2026 once again around 30 theatre makers will be invited to Berlin to experience, discuss and think about theatre together, to experiment and make connections.
The programme for the International Forum includes visits to the productions invited to Theatertreffen and additional events in the accompanying programme, participating in artist talks and workshops on performing arts practices with distinguished artists, exchanges with the festival director and jury of critics as well as excursions and visits to other performances in Berlin.
For its 2026 edition the International Forum will move to the Floating University, which is located at the rainwater collection basin built to serve the former Tempelhof airport in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, an outdoor place of learning that studies a variety of forms of cohabitation. On this site, an ecosystem in the middle of the city, the questions of how to live and make theatre together present themselves in an entirely new way.
The open call for the International Forum is issued worldwide to artists active in all disciplines of the performing arts, and especially those in the fields of directing, acting, stage and costume design, dramaturgy, text, music, video, performance, choreography and theatre education. Applications will be considered from theatre makers who are at the beginning of their artistic practice and who have already gathered some initial professional experience.
Further information about the application process and about the International Forum is available on the Berliner Festspiele website.
Open Call Timetable
Application period: 13 October to 30 November 2025
Announcement of selected fellows: end of February 2026
The International Forum will begin on the afternoon of Friday, 1 May 2026, and end on the evening of Sunday, 17 May 2026. The day of departure is Monday, 18 May 2026.
Contact for the International Forum of Theatertreffen
Co-directors: Aljoscha Begrich and Sima Djabar Zadegan
Assistant: Laura Jiménez González
Tel +49 30 254 89 375
internationales-forum@berlinerfestspiele.de
berlinerfestspiele.de/forum
In 2025, 60 years of the International Forum was celebrated with the anniversary programme “Forum Theatertreffen 1965–2025”, which presented contributions from 53 alumni. You can gain an impression of the anniversary programme from the online story “60 Years of International Forum”.
The International Forum takes places in co-operation with the Goethe-Institut, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Kultur l lx - Arts Council Luxembourg and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport. It is supported by the Deutscher Stage Association. Additional funding is provided by the Ministries of Culture and official funding bodies of the German federal states.
Save the Date
Festival period: 1 to 17 May 2026
Announcement of the open call for the Theatertreffen-Blog 2026: December 2025
Press conference and announcement of the 10 most remarkable productions by the jury of critics: January 2026
Publication of the full programme: April 2026