Across Europe, theatres are reimagining what it means to create, connect, and perform in the digital age. Long before the pandemic, artists were already experimenting with digital tools — but isolation gave those explorations new momentum, turning them into a movement that now seeks to expand what theatre can be and who it can reach.
At the heart of this transformation is ETC’s Digital Theatre Programme — a space where theatre-makers come together to experiment, learn, and dream beyond the limits of traditional production. The ETC Digital Theatre Programme was developed to address the need for shared knowledge and practical experience in digital theatre creation. Many members expressed interest in experimenting with digital tools but lacked opportunities to do so collaboratively, or exposure to what is possible with what kind of technology. The programme provides structured support for theatres to engage in digital development, enabling the creation of new works and fostering professional exchange across Europe. Leveraging synergies from the EU-funded ACuTe project, the initiative has included symposia in Bilbao and Ars Electronica in Linz, as well as workshops at the Academy for Theatre and Digitality in Dortmund. Through travel grants and access to professional development activities, ETC ensures that members can participate fully in these learning opportunities, strengthening expertise and promoting innovation in digital theatre practice.
For the artists and producers who have taken part, this programme is not just about learning how to use new technologies — it’s about discovering new ways to tell stories and to work together. This text gathers the experiences of two ETC members who explored how digital practices can coexist with — and deepen — theatre’s human essence.
The Left Bank Theatre (Kyiv): Digital innovation besides constraints
At Kyiv’s Left Bank Theatre, digital theatre has become a laboratory for creativity, resourcefulness, and experimentation. Actor experimenting with directing, Oleksandr (“Sasha”) Sokolov, embodies this spirit. When he won the inaugural Mytnytsia. New Direction festival — an award in memory of the founder of the theater Eduard Mytnytskyi designed for emerging directors with no prior directing experience or experienced directors proposing something new in their methods — his production of Martin McDonagh’s The Lonesome West became a transformative moment for the theatre.
Sasha’s approach was daring. The play’s multiple locations — from hell to heaven, both literal and figurative — demanded imaginative staging. The team decided to integrate live video and other digital elements, not as a spectacle, but as a way to probe the text more deeply. “It’s not about visualizing the play,” Shasha explained. “It’s about creating layers that help the audience dive into the story.”
Working with limited technical resources, the team tested various approaches. Four mobile phones and two cameras captured live footage from around the stage, projecting it with effects in real time. Actors interacted with the projections, playing with the images, adjusting angles, and discovering new artistic possibilities in the process. “It wasn’t camera for camera’s sake,” Sasha emphasizes. “It allowed us to solve directing challenges and explore the dramaturgy on a deeper level.” The results were very positive: audiences and industry professionals responded with surprise and admiration. While cameras and projections had appeared on stage before, the immersive, interactive use of live video was unprecedented in Kyiv’s theatrical environment. The production demonstrated that even modest resources could yield a transformative theatrical experience.
Since the Left Bank Theatre joined the European Theatre Convention (ETC) in 2022, producer Kateryna Ianiuk, head of the theatre’s international relations and project management department, has followed almost every meeting, workshop, and presentation connected to digitality in theatre. Encounters in Bilbao and Dortmund became her informal education — a crash course in what’s possible when theatre meets technology. But also through other opportunities offered by ETC, where she had the opportunity to see some shows. For example in JK Opole Theatre, she recalls, the surprise came from scale: “Some of the theatres were much smaller than ours,” she recalls, “but what they were doing with light, with video, with programming — it was incredible. It showed that technology isn’t about size or budget; it’s about imagination.” For her, the JK Opole Theatre embodies that spirit — not based in a capital city, it has built its technological innovations through hard work and dedication, proving that creativity can thrive outside major cultural centres. For LBT, it’s both a motivation and a reminder of what persistence and vision can achieve. “It’s inspiring,” she says. “It proves that we can experiment too, even with limited means.”
These experiences have expanded not only the theatre’s technical awareness but also its way of thinking. In Bilbao, during the AcuTe meeting, Kateryna was introduced to the concept of design thinking — a methodology that values empathy, experimentation, and user-centered problem-solving. “That was a turning point,” she recalls. “It showed us how to approach production differently — to look at challenges not as obstacles, but as creative opportunities.” Applying this mindset has helped the Left Bank team reimagine how they plan, budget, and prototype ideas. Instead of waiting for perfect conditions, they now test small steps, adjust, and learn through practice. “It helped us think differently,” Kateryna adds. “We don’t have a dedicated digital team, but we learn by doing — we test, we fail, we try again.” This new way of working has quietly reshaped the theatre’s culture.
With limited guidance and resources at home, the team constantly observes, experiments, and seeks expertise from international colleagues. Exposure to productions and showcases, such as the one in Opole, revealed inventive uses of LED displays, programming, and live video — techniques they could adapt to their own context. “It showed us that we could do a lot with very little,” the producer says. “We’re learning by doing, testing, and reaching out to people who can advise us. It’s about building knowledge step by step, on our own, while connecting with the wider network.”
Their upcoming production, a reimagined Alice in Wonderland, continues this exploration. The team plans to employ TouchDesigner and collaborate with Ukrainian software designers to create custom interactive elements. Even in the pre-production stage, these efforts involve careful problem-solving: balancing artistic goals, technical feasibility, and budget constraints. War and logistical challenges slow the process, but the team is committed to experimentation and self-directed learning, seeking solutions independently while engaging with international experts from the ETC community when possible.
The Left Bank Theatre’s journey highlights another crucial point: digital theatre is not just about technology, but about collaboration, curiosity, and persistence. “We watch what others are doing, we network, we test, and we share what we learn,” the producer explains. “Even small experiments push the field forward. When The Lonesome West premiered, people said, ‘Oh, it can be done.’ That motivates everyone to try something new.”
For the Left Bank, digital theatre has become more than a tool — it is a way to deepen engagement with the text, expand creative possibilities, and connect with a global community. The theatre demonstrates that innovation does not require unlimited resources; it requires curiosity, courage, and a willingness to explore new languages of performance.
“There’s a Before and After”: A young director on learning to embrace digitality in theatre
When Rafael Bijev first entered the world of theatre, he admits he was “very conservative and cautious towards digitality and new media on stage.” For him, theatre was a sacred space — “a place where humans meet humans.” His journey began as an assistant to Declan Donnellan’s staging of Medea at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia (Bulgaria). Through that project, he was introduced to the ETC network, which he now describes as “a chance to see the world.”
Over the years, Bijev’s perspective has evolved profoundly through his active engagement within ETC. He has taken part in numerous international exchanges and workshops that explored digital tools as means of accessibility, inclusion, and new dramaturgies. Among these were the AcuTe presentation of curated productions in Bilbao, which showcased groundbreaking work in digital theatre; a residency at the Academy for Theatre and Digitality in Dortmund; and, most recently, he received the ETC Digital Theatre Learning and Travel Path Grant to attend the Ars Electronica AcuTe Symposium in Linz in September 2025.
“I saw so many good opportunities,” he says. “Digitality can be used — and critiqued — on stage. It can open new ways to engage the audience, not replace human presence, but also question it.”
Rafael explained that for many theatre professionals in his home country, the transition toward digital is still hesitant. “I think a lot of my colleagues, both younger and older, have a very strong sentiment against digitality,” he explains. “Many actors are afraid of being replaced by AI or machines.” Still, he sees the role of theatre differently now — “not as something outside the developments in industry and technology, but as a place to confront and critique them.”
He recalls being deeply inspired by Trial Against Humanity, a Norwegian performance staged in Ars Electronica that he described as “a modern Agora — where society meets to discuss issues in real time.” The play explores the shifting boundaries between audience, technology, and performance blending live interaction with artificial intelligence, challenging traditional narratives and inviting spectators to become active participants in the story. The experience reshaped his understanding of how research, technology, and performance can converge. “It’s not something precooked that the audience just watches and leaves,” he says. “It’s alive — it changes you.” At Ars Electronica in Linz, he also encountered works using VR “not just for what the technology can do, but why it’s used for a particular story.” Reflecting on his experience at Ars Electronica, Bijev notes that “there was not so much theatre to see… there were people working with AI, with robots — things I’m not exposed to in my day-to-day life.” This encounter with artists and thinkers from other disciplines opened new perspectives on what theatre can be. It highlighted how stepping outside the traditional stage and engaging with fields like technology, robotics, and digital art can inspire theatre-makers to imagine new forms of storytelling and performance.
One Romanian performance that he attended in Bilbao stayed with him. It was RECONSTITUIREA, The Reenactment/La Reconstitution, created by Catinca Drăgănescu and Ciprian Făcăeru with the Craiova National Theatre. Inspired by Lucian Pintilie’s film The Reconstitution, the piece explored how media and technology shape our perception of reality. Blending digital art and live performance, it embodied the theatre’s commitment to interdisciplinary creation — and, as Rafael recalls, “it wasn’t about the gadget, but about storytelling — that was the revelation.”
Despite growing enthusiasm, the practical barriers are real. “Money is a big issue,” he explains. “In the independent scene, you can apply for a maximum of €10,000 as a beginner director, and half must already come from your own capital. With such limits, it’s hard to experiment with new technologies.” Budget cuts across Europe, he adds, make it even more difficult for emerging artists to explore digital forms. “There’s also a lack of trust — not only in technology, but in its artistic value.” Still, the exposure ETC offers is invaluable.
Rafael’s experience reflects what we could call a generation between worlds. In Bulgarian theatre academies, the focus remains largely traditional — “you work with text, actors, lights, and sound.” Access to new tools is limited, and, as he notes, “sometimes you don’t even know what’s possible.” Coming from this context, he sees how difficult it can be to explore digitality or post-dramatic forms. “We don’t have so much access to what technology can do,” he explains. “Sometimes you don’t even know what’s possible.”
Yet curiosity is growing. Young directors and artists pool resources to travel abroad — to Germany, the Netherlands — to see new work, exchange ideas, and bring them back home. “It’s all happening between us,” Rafael says. “We tell stories, we collect ideas. We have big dreams, but we still need time to make them real.”
For him, the experiences within ETC mark a turning point: “There’s a before and after. Before, I was cautious. Now, I see digitality not as a threat but as a language — one that can make theatre more open, critical, and alive.”
This is not a conclusion
Rather than closing the discussion, these stories invite us to continue exploring, experimenting, and questioning what theatre can be in the digital age. The stories of Rafael and of Shasha and Kateryna are snapshots in an ongoing journey: a journey where human creativity, curiosity, and collaboration intersect with technology to open new possibilities for expression and connection in theater narratives. These two journeys trace a shared realization: the digital is not a new stage, but an added depth to the one we already know.
These stories show that digital tools are not a replacement for creativity but an additional layer of expression, opening new ways to explore dramaturgy, space, and audience engagement. Engaging with digital theatre also encourages collaboration across disciplines — from sound design to robotics, AI, or film — creating opportunities to learn from adjacent artistic fields and bring fresh perspectives into the rehearsal room. A degree of technological literacy is valuable, but curiosity, experimentation, and a willingness to test ideas often take practitioners further than formal expertise alone. These journeys highlight how theatres can embrace innovation while staying rooted in their human core — a process made possible through the support, learning opportunities, and professional networks provided by ETC. Ultimately, these stories prove that, even in a digital age, theatre is, and will always remain, unapologetically human.
