Theatertreffen 2026: The programme is online and accreditation starts today
With the publication of the programme today press accreditation starts for the 63rd edition of the festival.
If you would like to request accreditation and for more information, please send an email to akkreditierung@berlinerfestspiele.de.
Festival Opening
The 63rd edition of the festival opens on Friday, 1 May at Haus der Berliner Festspiele with Il Gattopardo directed by Pınar Karabulut, a production from Schauspielhaus Zürich.
“Evenings of theatre like Pınar Karabulut’s adaptation of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) have become rare. Together with stage designer Michela Flück and costume designer Sara Valentina Giancare, Karabulut brings aristocratic Sicily in the era of the Risorgimento back to life in a magical way. The opulence of the rooms and costumes and the almost seamless psychological playing of the ensemble draw the audience deep into the 19th century. […] At the same time, they can also recognise symptoms of our own changing times. Karabulut sticks closely to Lampedusa’s novel and by doing so keeps our own crisis-torn reality in view. […]”
— Sascha Westphal for the Theatertreffen jury
Further Information About the Festival Programme
From 1 to 17 May the Theatertreffen will present the 10 most remarkable productions of the season selected by the juryof critics at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berliner Ensemble, Deutsches Theater Berlin, HAU – Hebbel am Ufer (HAU 1) and Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam.
Please note: unfortunately, Florentina Holzinger’s production A Year without Summer which was nominated by the jury cannot be presented during the festival period for scheduling reasons. However, it can be seen later as a “TT Nachspiel” at Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in October. Accreditation for the performances in October is also available now.
Three directors have had productions invited to Theatertreffen for the first time: Jan-Christoph Gockel with Wallenstein. A slaughter feast in seven courses (Münchner Kammerspiele), Julian Hetzel with Three Times Left is Right (a production by Studio Julian Hetzel in co-production with Wiener Festwochen | Free Republic of Vienna and Schauspiel Leipzig) and Jaz Woodcock-Stewart with Die Glasmenagerie (The Glass Menagerie).
Sebastian Hartmann is represented twice with Serotonin and Der Hauptmann von Köpenick. For both Staatstheater Cottbus and Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam, this is their first invitation to the festival. Also represented in the palette of ten productions alongside the aforementioned directors Florentina Holzinger and Pınar Karabulut, are the directors Lucia Bihler with Die Welt im Rücken (Schauspiel Stuttgart), Leonie Böhm with Fräulein Else (Vienna Volkstheater) and Jette Steckel with Mephisto (Münchner Kammerspiele).
Performances of the 10 selected productions are presented in German with English surtitles. Il Gattopardo will also be performed with Italian surtitles.
There is one exception: the five-hour solo evening Serotonin is partly based on improvisation and therefore cannot be surtitled in English.
Drama and Discourse
The framing programme consists of a discourse programme curated by Matthias Dell that explores themes from the 10 selected productions in conversations, film screenings and an exhibition in Haus der Berliner Festspiele together with the new format Mehr Drama! which has been conceived jointly with the Verband Deutscher Bühnen- und Medienverlage (VDB) and focusses on new voices in contemporary playwriting.
Additional information can be found in the pressrelease from 31 March.
Mehr Drama! is a collaboration between the Theatertreffen produced by the Berliner Festspiele and the theatre publishers Felix Bloch Erben, S. Fischer Verlage, henschel Schauspiel, Rowohlt Verlag, Suhrkamp Verlag, Verlag der Autoren and the Verband Deutscher Bühnen- und Medienverlage e.V. and is funded by the Heinz und Heide Dürr Stiftung.
The discursive programme is funded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
Award Ceremonies
Three prizes for special artistic achievement are presented at the Theatertreffen: these begin on Saturday, 2 May with the Berlin Theatre Award presented by the Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung to the artist duo Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué, continue on Saturday, 9 May with the presentation of the 3sat Award to the actor Katharina Bach and conclude on the closing day of the festival, Sunday, 17 May, with the presentation of the Alfred-Kerr-Acting-Award to a young actor from one of the invited ensembles. The award ceremonies are held at Haus der Berliner Festspiele and admission is free of charge.
3sat “Starke Stücke”
Under the title “Starke Stücke” our long-standing media partner 3sat will broadcast television recordings it has produced itself of four productions invited to the festival in its programme:
— Saturday, 2 May, at 20:15 h: Fräulein Else
— Saturday, 9 May, at 20:15 h: Mephisto
— Sunday, 10 May, at 17:00 h: Wallenstein. A slaughter feast in seven courses (streamed live with a time delay in the 3sat Media Library and the Berliner Festspiele Media Library)
— Saturday, 16 May, at 20:15 h: Il Gattopardo
All four “Starke Stücke” can be accessed for at least one year from Friday, 1 May in the 3sat Media Library and the Berliner Festspiele Media Library.
Save the Date
Ticket sales start:
Saturday, 18 April 2026, at 10:00 h
Press conversation with artists from the 63rd edition of the festival:
Wednesday, 29 April, at 11:00 h, Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Discourse & Closing Discussion
The discourse programme invites the public to three conversations free of charge. Participants include Teresa Bücker, Diedrich Diederichsen, Ebow, Ruprecht Polenz, Vera Schneevoigt and Francis Seeck. On 17 May the jury of critics will come together for the closing discussion with and in front of the audience.
The Forum’s Forum
The participants of the International Forum offer an impression of their working environments and ways of thinking in playful mini lectures. These short sessions find a creative way to communicate artistic questions in local and global contexts.