In mid- April, Brno was swept up in a spiral of creativity, art, and theatre in the form of The International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER 2026.

This year marked the successful 36th edition of the International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER 2026, held from April 14 to April 18, 2026, at the Theatre Faculty of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts, as well as at venues of Brno theatres including Studio Marta, Theatre on Orlí Street, The Goose on a String Theatre, and HaDivadlo.

During the main festival program, 11 ensembles from a total of 9 countries performed on stage. Their performances were evaluated by an expert jury consisting of Amin Boudrik, Sára Torley-Havas, Davide Giovanzana, and Aris Pretelin-Esteves. 

The Czech theatre scene was represented not only by students of the hosting university JAMU but also by Prague’s HAMU. International participation included ensembles from Poland, Slovakia, Germany, Bulgaria, Latvia, Switzerland, Korea, and Ukraine. 

In addition to the main program, the festival also offered a rich OFF Programme, that started off the festival with an opening ceremony. Another part of the OFF Programme were moderated discussions about the individual performances were held daily hroughout the week, moderated discussions about the individual performances were held daily, workshops, and other events. 

On the final day of the festival, the OFF Programme featured the monodrama Cucumis sensus by the organizing JAMU team, as well as film screenings including movies such as Irenka (Barbora Kučerová), Mistakes (Jasmína Georgievová and her team), Bohyně – cesty osudu (Dominika Prášková and her team), Luděk (Šimon Pávek), and Rande (Klára Prchalová and her team). 

The festival concluded with a ceremonial closing event during which the jury awarded The Marta Awards. 

In the directing category, the award was given to Lada Borovska from The Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Arts from poland for her work on Balladyna 68 – in a slightly shortened version for the clarity and maturity of the directing that is delivered by the actress within a precise and fully guided performance. 

The award for Best Acting Performance was given to Yelyzaveta Pustovalova from ukrainian Ivan Franko National University od Lviv. Her performance in the  inscenation Sex Education. Girl's Edition where she embodied all the women of the story trough outstanding performance that conveys self-empowerment, freedom, generosity and pride.  A performance that reflects a powerful sense of communal work that offers hope in a world in crisis. 

The Marta Award for scenography was awarded to Kim Si-won, Park Se-eun a Shin So-jeong from Korea National University of Arts, for their work on the play Animal Farm, for creating a visual dramaturgy of space, light, objects, that generates its own unique meaning and for its collaborative spirit and bold vision. The ability to abstract and adapt the original design by coping different technical conditions without losing its core concept-indeed, even enhancing it. They demonstrate that, without their co-creation, bringing this performance to life would have been impossible 

The last awarded were Onur Kurtulmus a Ali Candas in the caregory of the Best Script, from switz Bern Academy of the Arts, for their text for the play Yakamoz. The judges appreciated how they accomplished to speak in the theatre about a socially sensitive, current, and divisive topic in a way that is both personal and accessible, without pathos or self-pity; transforming the stage into a community space. 

The festival would not have been possible without the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the State Culture Fund of the Czech Republic, the South Moravian Region, the City of Brno and the Brno-střed district. 

The festival was held under the auspices of Mgr. Jan Grolich (Governor of the South Moravian Region), Oto Klempíř (Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic), the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, the Czech Commission for UNESCO, JUDr. Markéta Vaňková (Mayor of the City of Brno), and Mgr. Tomáš Kolář (Mayor of Brno-střed). 

The main media partner of the festival was Czech Television. 

We would like to thank all partners and donors for supporting The International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER 2026! 

All photos from the festival can be found on our website. 

We look forward to the next 37th edition of the festival, which will take place from 13th to 17th of April. 

Author of the press release: Kateřina Klumpnerová 

Media and Promotion section contact: media@encounter.cz