The Union of European Theatres

The “Union des Théâtres de l’Europe (et de la Méditerranée)” is a network of European theatres, operating on a European scale.

Its origins go back thirty-one years ago when three theatres in Italy, France and Spain. First centred around a programme of regular festivals with the aim of uniting East and West, the union has grown into a network of European theatres combining artistic and political goals, and using existing artistic platforms in order to strengthen professional exchange and promote an open Europe of culture.

Today, the Union des Théâtres de l’Europe unites more than forty members from all over Europe and beyond, amongst which eighteen major theatres with national and international influence. The theatres from Porto, Moscow, Bochum, Tel Aviv, Athens, Cluj, Reims, Vienna, Belgrade, Bucharest, Stuttgart, Luxemburg, Sofia, Milan, Prague, Thessaloniki, Rome and Budapest, completed with personal and associated members from France, Hungary, Poland and Georgia are represented in seventeen countries. Their goal is to collaborate on an international level and strengthen the role and value of European public theatres. Together they represent an area that increasingly encompasses the entire European continent, and even transcends it with members in Israel, Palestine and artistic partners in Arab countries.

With more than 10,000 performances and 3 million spectators a year, the UTE member theatres offer a wide range of events, including productions, world premieres of new drama, projects on current political issues, cooperation between various international festivals, conferences on important political and artistic topics, round-tables with artists, managers and politicians intended to attract and include a broader audience, projects with young artists and young audiences, masterclasses, literary and academic publications and think tanks for the development of new working strategies.

Elected Cultural Ambassador by the EU Commission in 2012, head of an important theatre project on different forms of terrorism, including Israeli, Norwegian, German, French and Serbian theatres, and elected as one of the most significant theatre networks to be supported by the European Commission (Conflict Zones | Zones de Conflit), the UTE sees its mission in an artistic, political and societal sphere. Its activities go along three major axes: the development of international and transnational collaborations, the maintenance and transmission of Europe’s cultural heritage, focusing on its appropriation by young artists, and the questioning, development and renewal of this heritage through ground-breaking artistic projects, and additional political projects that all offer a critical reflection on today’s society.

For more information about the U.T.E., please visit the U.T.E.-website