Productions are people. Who is behind the 36th annual of The International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER?

Between all the open calls, selection processes, meetings, phone calls, and the endless stream of emails, it is easy to forget that there is no invisible system or force behind it all. Although it may not seem like it, festival production is not just about spreadsheets, deadlines, and tasks. Production is people – the students of the Theater Faculty at JAMU.

The Core Organising Team for The International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER 2026 is made up of third-year students of Theatre Management and Stage Technology.  

Led by the Festival Director Kateřina Halamíčková and the Treasurer of the Festival Hana Severinová, members of the team lead the individual sections – Fundraising, Guest Service, Jury, Participants, Media and Promotion, OFF Programme, the Artistic Section and Technical Support. The organization of the international festival is also part of the curriculum for students in the first and second years of their studies, and their participation has a strong impact on their education.   

The festival's final form is also influenced by the Artistic Section, which consists of students of the Dramaturgy and Directing, Scenography, Audiovisual Media and Theatre as well as Radio and TV Dramaturgy and Scriptwriting, with Eva Kaslová (a student of the Dramaturgy and Directing Department) serving as artistic director this year.  

This section, for example, helps shape the dramaturgical line of a given edition of the festival, participates in the selection of productions, the conception of the ceremonies, and the selection of themes. The spiral that accompanies this year's edition thus symbolizes movement, growth, and a constant return to the essence.  

The resulting collaboration across departments connects production practice with creative thinking. The festival is an opportunity to pause, discover something in the productions that resonate with us, form an opinion, think critically, engage in debate, let art affect us, have fun, dance the evenings away, and, in a spiral of exhaustion, get through the next day of the festival.  

SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER combines encounters across year-groups, disciplines, and generations—and mainly encounters with ourselves. Experience it again on April 14th–18th 2026, when The International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER 2026 will take place. We look forward to seeing you then!  

Wishing you a peaceful start to the summer semester.  

Klára Huczalová 

Photo: Jasmína Georgievová