Biennale College Teatro: new call for applications for 2025-2026

Starting Friday 18 October, the new national calls for Directors and Playwrights Under 30 for the Biennale College Teatro 2025-2026 will be published on the website of La Biennale di Venezia. This is the initiative that consolidates La Biennale di Venezia’s tradition of research and support for new talents, under the aegis of the new Artistic Director of the Theatre Department Willem Dafoe. The two calls will remain online through 17 November.

The call for Directors Under 30
The call, which will extend over the two-year period 2025-2026, is dedicated to Italian directors between the ages of 18 and 30.
Following the two first phases of selection, which constitute steps forward in the development and refinement of the applicants’ directorial project for an original text, a classic, an adaptation or even a rewritten text, in the third and final phase, which will take place as part of the 53rd International Theatre Festival (31 May > 15 June 2025), a specifically appointed jury chaired by Willem Dafoe will select the winning director. The winner, who will be announced at the end of the Festival, will work throughout the following year to define and develop their play in integral form with the support of the Artistic Director Willem Dafoe, relying on a production grant of up to 110,000 euro, in view of their debut on the stages of the Biennale Teatro 2026.

Call for applications

The call for Playwrights Under 30
The call, which will extend over the two-year period 2025-2026, is dedicated to Italian authors between the ages of 18 and 30, for the production of a new and original text which, following a series of development phases, will make its debut on the stages of Biennale Teatro 2026 in the form of a stage reading. Following a selection of a maximum of ten participants based on the dramaturgical material submitted with their applications, the authors will be invited to attend a workshop held by playwright Davide Carnevali that will take place during the 53rd International Theatre Festival (31 May > 15 June 2025), during which they will develop their project under the supervision of the Artistic Director Willem Dafoe. Based on the results of the workshop, a jury appointed for the occasion and chaired by Willem Dafoe will decree a maximum of two winners who will have time through 31 January 2026 to develop the plays in their final version. These plays, in the form of mise en lecture, will be part of the programme of the Biennale Teatro 2026.

Call for applications