The International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER Will Bring Brno to Life
The Theater Faculty of JAMU will present the 36th edition of The International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER 2026, which will return to Brno from April 14–18, 2026
For five days, Brno will once again come alive with an international gathering of young theater artists, students, and educators from around the world.
This year, the festival will welcome eleven theater schools from nine countries. In addition to the ensemble from the JAMU Theater Faculty, Brno will host, for example, the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv from Ukraine with the production Sex education. Girl’s Edition. Germany will be represented by the Hamburg University of Music and Drama with the project Landing, as well as the University of the Arts Berlin with their production Co-radical togetherness. The Faculty of Music and Dance of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague will present WHODUNIT, and the Latvian Academy of Culture will present their Contemporary Mask Comedy: The Dreamers.
The Swiss Academy of the Arts in Bern will present the project Yakamoz; the Slovak Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava will be represented by the production An Enemy of the People; and the Polish Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art will bring the title Balladyna 68 – in a slightly shortened version. The program will also feature the New Bulgarian University from Sofia with the production of Thus with a kiss I die and Korea National University of Arts with their production of Animal farm.
Sex education. Girl’s Edition
Landing
Contemporary Mask Comedy: The Dreamers
Co-radical togethernessCo-radical togetherness
Balladyna 68 – in a slightly shortened version
As in previous years, the festival will also feature an international jury of experts. This year’s jury consists of: Amin Boudrika (Moroccan scenographer, stage director, and researcher), Davide Giovanzana (theatre director, theatre pedagogue, and researcher with Italian, Swiss, and Finnish backgrounds, based in Helsinki), Sára Torley-Havas (freelance dramaturg based in Hungary), and Aris Pretelin-Estéves (Mexican scenographer and scenic artist).
We can also look forward to a rich OFF Programme, which will offer workshops, debates, and meetings with prominent figures in contemporary theater. Among those who have accepted invitations are John Freeman (Australian author – Open Scenes workshop), Martin Královič (security expert from Slovakia – lecture: Better safe than sorry; how crowds really work at live events), Noémi Herczog (Hungarian theater critic – Performing Democracy Under Illiberalism: critical pedagogy lecture & workshop on the radical aesthetics of the ‘Learning Republic’ staged by Hungarian theater students in 2020), Bibiana Krausková (a movement and expressive arts artist from Bristol – The Body as a Living Instrument: Stories of Spiral), as well as festival ambassadors Kamila Polívková (Czech set designer and director – Live Cinema masterclass) and Tomáš Weber (Czech actor – acting Actor's Training).
Each year, the festival is united by a theme chosen by the students. For the 36th edition, the theme is Spiral—a symbol of movement, growth, and return. Which shapes the form and direction of the entire festival.
We’ll be sharing updates on the 36th edition on the official website encounter.cz, on Instagram @setkani_encounter, and on Facebook SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER. That’s where you’ll find the first program announcements, introductions to international schools, side events, and behind-the-scenes moments from the festival’s preparations.
Want to be there from the start? Follow us online! You’ll find all the important news conveniently in one place.
You can relive the atmosphere of last year’s festival, which energizes the whole of Brno every year, on the official SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER YouTube channel.
The main media partner of the 36th The International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER is Czech Television (Česká Televize).
Author of the press release: Klára Danielová
Media and Promotion section contact: Zuzana Michalcová, media@encounter.cz