The Union of European Theatres (UTE; french: Union des Théâtres de l'Europe) is an alliance of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an public

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

s. It serves to promote

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...

through cultural interaction. It does intensive transnational theatre work comprising over ten thousand performances and reaching three million viewers each season. The UTE presents festivals, exhibitions, workshops, theatre school collaborations, colloquiums and co-productions throughout Europe. The Union des Théâtres de l'Europe has over 40 members, 20 of which are major national and municipal theatres from 17 countries.

History

The UTE was founded in 1990 by Jack Lang, then Culture Minister of France, and Italian theatre director

Giorgio Strehler Giorgio Strehler (; ; 14 August 1921 – 25 December 1997) was an actor, Italian opera and theatre director. Biography Strehler was born in Barcola, Trieste; His father, Bruno Strehler, was a native of Trieste with family roots in Vienna and died ...

. Apart from fostering European integration, their motivation also was the perceived threat to European

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different cu ...

posed by

globalisation Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

: :"Already then we felt that the building of Europe required a firm stand against the unruly vagaries of the economic machine. Today we find ourselves faced with the same questions: how do we defend art within a

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...

whose logistics are designed to standardise our way of life and thought so that we are reduced to a state of passive

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...

? Can public policies that support the arts be more effective?"

Mission

The UTE's stated mission is :"to contribute to the building of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

through

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

and

, to encourage a collective cultural movement that breaks through language barriers in order to develop an art theatre which is seen as a vector of fraternity among people. The UTE promotes productions and co-productions, theatre exchanges and shared experiences while respecting individual identities and cultures. ... Etched in continuity, the sum of these activities helps in elucidating the objectives of artistic and cultural policies that aim to reinforce artistic cooperation and transnational circulation in Europe." The UTE is a “multinational house”, an idea which corresponds to the so-called “Mehrspartenhaus” in German Theatre – that is, one major theatre with different departments, and in the case of the UTE one theatre that consists of seventeen national theatres but yet remains a single entity. This “multinational house” intensively discusses the questions of a European identity and the role of culture in its formation. Its goal is to promote cultural activities across national borders that respect the principles of the particular identities, a thing that requires common and continuous research. Its current programme focuses on projects that put new working methods to the test and connects experienced theatre creators with enthusiastic newcomers, projects which are close to the citizens of the different European cities, and all this on a long-term scale.

Members and structure

The UTE is governed by a General Assembly and a board of directors. The president is

Gábor Tompa Gábor Tompa (born 8 August 1957 in Târgu Mureș) is an internationally renowned Hungarian theater and film director, poet, essayist and teacher. Between 2007 and 2016 he was the Head of Directing at the Theatre and Dance Department of the Univers ...

, artistic and general director of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, Romania. Today the UTE has 19 member theatres in 15 European countries and beyond: * since 1990: Piccolo Teatro - Teatro d'Europa,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy * since 1991:

Teatrul Bulandra The Bulandra Theatre ( ro, Teatrul Bulandra) in Bucharest, Romania was founded in 1947 as Teatrul Municipal; its first director was Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra, one of the leading Romanian stage actresses of her generation. Liviu Ciulei was director b ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Romania * since 1994: Teatro di Roma,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy * since 1996:

National Theatre of Northern Greece The National (or State) Theatre of Northern Greece (Κρατικό Θέατρο Βορείου Ελλάδος), an institution promoting theatrical plays in Thessaloniki and northern Greece, was founded in 1961 by Sokratis Karantinos, its first ...

( ΚΘΒΕ),

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, Greece * since 1998: Maly Dramatichesky Theatre,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia * since 2003:

Teatro Nacional São João Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band member ...

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, Portugal * since 2006: National Theatre of Israel,

Habimah The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. History ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel * since 2006:

Yugoslav Drama Theatre Yugoslav Drama Theatre ( sr-cyrl, Југословенско драмско позориште, Jugoslovensko dramsko pozorište; abbr. JDP or ''Jugodrp'') is a theatre located in Belgrade, Serbia. It was founded in 1947 as the representative th ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, Serbia * since 2008: Schauspielhaus Graz,

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, Austria * since 2008: Cluj-Napoca Hungarian Theatre,

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

, Romania * since 2009:

National Theatre (Prague) The National Theatre ( cs, Národní divadlo) in Prague is known as the alma mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of History of the Czech Republic, Czech history and art. The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cu ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czech Republic * since 2009:

National Theatre of Greece The National Theatre of Greece () is based in Athens, Greece. History The first permanent theatre in modern Greece had been the Boukoura Theatre from 1840, but it had difficulty in managing its operation and stood empty for long periods of t ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece * since 2010:

Maly Theatre (Moscow) Maly Theatre (, literally ''Small Theatre'' as opposed to nearby Bolshoi, or ''Grand'', opera theatre) is a theatre in Moscow, Russia, principally associated with the production of plays. Established in 1806Londre, Margot p. 307 and operating o ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Russia * since 2011:

SFUMATO Sfumato (, ) is a painting technique for softening the transition between colours, mimicking an area beyond what the human eye is focusing on, or the out-of-focus plane. It is one of the canonical painting modes of the Renaissance. Leonardo da V ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, Bulgaria * since 2013: Schauspiel Stuttgart, Germany * since 2013:

Schauspielhaus Bochum The Schauspielhaus Bochum is one of the notable drama theatres in Germany. It is located on Königsallee in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. Eric de Vroedt Eric de Vroedt (Rotterdam, 1972) is a Dutch theater director, writer and actor. Caree ...

, Germany * since 2013: Comédie de Reims,

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, France * since 2013: Théâtre National du Luxembourg, Luxemburg * since 2015
Vígszínház

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary * since 2015:

Volkstheater Wien The Volkstheater in Vienna (roughly translated as "People's Theatre") was founded in 1889 by request of the citizens of Vienna, amongst them the dramatist Ludwig Anzengruber and the furniture manufacturer Thonet, in order to offer a popular count ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria * since 2017:

Schauspiel Köln Schauspiel Köln is a theatre and company in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It forms together with the Cologne Opera and other houses the Bühnen der Stadt Köln (Stages of the city of Cologne). The listed building has 830 seats in th ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany * since 2017: Stanislavsky Electrotheatre,

, Russia Individual members: * Csaba Antal * Victor Arditti *

Silviu Purcarete Silviu may refer to: *Silviu Bălace (born 1978), Romanian football player *Silviu Berejan (1927–2007), Bessarabian writer from Moldova and member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova *Silviu Bindea (1912–1992), Romanian football player *Silvi ...

Tadeusz Bradecki Tadeusz Bradecki (2 January 1955 – 24 January 2022) was a Polish actor and stage director. He died on 24 January 2022, at the age of 67. Partial filmography *''Camera Buff'' (1979) *''The Constant Factor'' (1980) *''A Year of the Quiet Sun'' ...

* Giorgio Ursini Uršič Honorary members: *

Lev Dodin Lev Abramovich Dodin (russian: Лев Абрамович Додин, born 1944) is a modern Russian theater director, the leader of Saint Petersburg Maly Drama Theater. Biography Lev Dodin was born in Novokuznetsk in 1944. He first experienced ...

, President of honor *

Georges Banu Georges Banu (22 June 1943 – 21 January 2023) was a Romanian-born French writer, theatre critic, and academic. Biography Born in Buzău on 22 June 1943, Banu studied at the Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film. He moved to France ...

* Tamás Ascher *

Patrice Chéreau Patrice Chéreau (; 2 November 1944 – 7 October 2013) was a French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer. In France he is best known for his work for the theatre, internationally for his films '' La Reine Margot'' and ...

(1944 Lézigné – 2013 Clichy) * Jack Lang *

Krystian Lupa Krystian Lupa (Polish pronunciation: ; born 7 November 1943) is a Polish theatre director, set designer, playwright, translator and pedagogue. He has been called "the greatest living European theatre director". He is the recipient of many natio ...

Robert Sturua Robert Sturua ( ka, რობერტ სტურუა; born 31 July 1938, Tbilisi) is a Georgian theater director, who gained international acclaim for his original interpretation of the works of Brecht, Shakespeare, and Chekhov. He was based ...

* Anatoly Vassiliev *

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

The operations of the UTE are supported by the "

Creative Europe Creative Europe is a European Union programme for the cultural and creative sectors. In its first phase, going from 2014 to 2020, it had a budget of € 1.47 billion, which were expanded to € 2.44 billion in its second phase (2021-2027). Hist ...

" Programme of the

. The UTE is headquartered in

Bobigny Bobigny () is a commune, or town, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Bobigny is the prefecture (capital city) of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, as well as the seat of the A ...

, France.

Activities

The work of the UTE includes

theatre festival Theatre festivals are amongst the earliest types of festival. Classical Greek theatre was associated with religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus, called the City Dionysia. The medieval mystery plays were presented at the major Christian feasts ...

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

s, artist exchanges,

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

s, publications, conferences, theatre co-productions and

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

initiatives.

References

{{reflist

External links

UTE website

UTE online Theatre Magazine
– Project "Young European Journalists on Performing Arts"
TERRORisms eBook

TERRORisms Special Issue

Alternatives Théâtrales: Special Issue "Frontières Liquides"
Theatrical organizations Cultural policies of the European Union Arts organizations established in 1990