EU Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, met with the European Theatre Convention (ETC), the largest network of publicly funded theatres in Europe, and the Deutsches Theater Berlin for a behind-the-scenes tour during his official visit to Berlin on Monday 26 May 2025.
The European Theatre Convention, Europe's largest network of public theatres, met with EU Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, at the Deutsches Theater Berlin for wide-ranging discussion about the important role and impact of the European theatre sector, and a behind-the-scenes tour of the historic Deutsches Theater.
On Monday 26 May 2025 Commissioner Micallef met with Heidi Wiley, ETC Executive Director; Iris Laufenberg, Artistic Director of Deutsches Theater Berlin and ETC Vice-President; Cláudia Belchior, ETC President and Executive General Coordinator of Centro Cultural de Belém (Portugal); Tom Leick-Burns, ETC Secretary and Artistic Director of Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg (Luxembourg); and Marina Maleni, ETC Board Member and Theatre Development Officer at Cyprus Theatre Organisation (THOC), reflecting the broad international scope of the theatre sector.
The meeting covered:
- The critical challenges faced by the theatre sector in Europe at national level, and the vital role of theatre as a powerful, creative and innovative public space for dialogue and social encounters, with the power to connect people of all ages
- The need for Europe-wide coordination to protect the unique theatre system as an anchor of democracy, and to further develop sectoral dialogue and public-facing initiatives and build on previous achievements through the EU European Theatre Initiative
- The role of the European Culture Compass in providing a policy framework for enable European culture to thrive in view of geopolitical instability, economic competitiveness and the rise of AI
The importance of ensuring artistic freedom and good working conditions for artists and cultural workers - The impact of theatre: Ms. Wiley stressed that theatre in Europe is one of the most dynamic sectors next to film and music, and that ETC alone “represents almost 500.000 artists and cultural professionals in producing and staging 60.000 performances a year reaching 25 million people.”
Reflecting on the meeting and the visit, Commissioner Micallef said:
“I had a fruitful discussion with the European Theatre Convention in Berlin and visited the historic Deutsches Theater. Theatres are at the very heart of Europe’s diverse cultural landscape. Promoting and protecting their artistic freedom is one of my priorities.”
Heidi Wiley, Executive Director of the European Theatre Convention (ETC), who also highlighted insights from different production modes and programming needs for meeting audiences and international collaborations, said:
"The next four years are crucial to pave the grounds for culture in Europe to remain open and free, in view of geopolitical and economic upheavals. We have a globally unique and strong public cultural system to be proud of. This must be protected legally and financially on a European level, and promoted so that it is visible to the public and to the sector. In so doing, we can inspire societal progress and innovation with confidence, celebrating theatre as a global stage for European democracy."
Iris Laufenberg, Artistic Director of Deutsches Theater and Vice-President of ETC, added:
"On the one hand, we see that culture takes a backstep to other topics, especially the global economic situation. On the other hand, culture is being used as a tool to promote nationalist ideas - which is dangerous for Europe. We need strong support for cultural cooperation from the EU."
Claudia Belchior, ETC President and Executive General Coordinator at Centro Cultural de Belém, said:
“The challenges that theatres and cultural professionals face across Europe are not limited to one country: they are Europe-wide. That is why is so important to invest in international networks and we welcome the desire for continued dialogue between the cultural sector and the European Commission.”
The meeting marks a significant milestone toward deeper dialogue between the European theatre sector and the European Commission, with both Deutsches Theater Berlin and the European Theatre Convention stressing their desire to continue this collaboration and ensure theatre remains a pillar of Europe’s cultural and democratic infrastructure.
Press contact
You can direct enquiries to ETC’s Communication Manager, Christy Romer: communication@europeantheatre.eu
About ETC
Founded in 1988, the European Theatre Convention (ETC) is the largest network of public theatres in Europe. It is an arts organisation that promotes European theatre as a vital platform for dialogue, democracy and interaction that responds to, reflects and engages with today’s diverse audiences and changing societies. ETC’s current four-year programme of activities, European Theatre: BREAK THE MOULD, is co-funded by the European Union and supports networking, professional development and artistic collaborations for theatre staff across Europe — championing theatre as a key European art form for the 21st century.
As part of the European Commission’s European Theatre Initiative, ETC organised the first European Theatre Forum in 2020 and curated the second edition of the European Theatre Forum at JK Opole Theatre in 2023.
ETC has more than 75 members from 33 countries and is supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
About Deutsches Theater Berlin
Deutsches Theater Berlin is one of the largest theatres in the German-speaking world. Today, with an ensemble of 38 actors, around 300 permanent employees, a repertoire of roughly 60 shows on re-runs as well as 20 new productions each season, Deutsches Theater is a powerful publicly funded producing theatre. Since summer 2023, Iris Laufenberg has taken over the artistic direction with her team. Her artistic project centres around opening up Deutsches Theater to new audiences, new artists and playwrights, while highlighting the DNA of this house: a sociopolitical approach to theatre, a profound interest in topics for a contemporary, international, metropolitan audience as well as a strong focus on its first-class ensemble of actors. ‘DT Kontext’, offering a free supporting programme of expert talks and discussions for all productions, as well as ‘DT Jung*’, the youth and participatory department, anchor Deutsches Theater as an important democratic public space in Berlin.
Photos: © Jadranko Marjanovic
