This was Shakespeare is dead 2026
SHAKESPEARE IS DEAD 2026 was a bigsuccess!
Read the State of the Playwright by Annet Bremen now
Shakespeare is Dead 2026 was once again a success! As tradition dictates, this fifth edition of the festival took place at the cultural hotspot OPEK in Leuven. Shakespeare is Dead is the only festival in the Dutch-speaking region that focuses entirely on the art of playwriting. The festival aims to put contemporary Dutch-language playwrights in the spotlight for both local audiences and within an international context. At the same time, it serves as a unique meeting place to discover work from other languages and cultures, with the organization alternating annually between Leuven and Amsterdam.
Over the five festival days, no fewer than 1,966 visitors found their way to the various activities. The festival presented a rich international program featuring, among other things, 7 international evening performances from Ukraine, Kosovo, Denmark, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In addition, there were 6 Reading Rooms on the schedule focusing on contemporary theater texts. Texts by 8 Flemish and Dutch authors were translated into English for the festival and presented by professional actors to a group of international theater professionals.
In various debates and roundtable discussions, there was a lively exchange of ideas on themes such as writing new narratives for the future, collective authorship, and writing with young people.
16 writers received individual feedback during the spotlight sessions, and brand-new work by 18 writers was performed for the first time by a pool of professional actors during late-night scratch nights.
At the various networking lunches alone, a total of 181 professionals connected with one another.
The festival was also buzzing with many active theater enthusiasts. For instance, the intensive residency mentored by author Annelies Verbeke provided an inspiring haven for 8 emerging authors. Furthermore, through various workshops, creators and enthusiasts could deeply immerse themselves in monologue writing, writing with groups, and in-depth play analysis.
Additionally, theater company Het Kwartier left a major mark on this edition. Alongside their exhibition celebrating ten years of repertoire, creators Freek Mariën and Carl von Winckelmann launched their MIXTAPE B-Sides: four new, short scenes thrown live onto the stage like a raw punk set. Those who wanted to get more actively involved with text could visit De Leesclub, where visitors sat at the reading table to read aloud and flip through brand-new texts by, among others, Femke Van der Steen, Rashif El Kaoui, and Bo Tarenskeen.
In total, the work of 55 playwrights was presented at the festival. The festival was also supported by at least 102 other theater professionals, including all the directors, dramaturgs, actors, musicians, designers, technicians, and organizers who brought the texts to life behind the scenes or on stage. Together with the authors, they formed a pool of 157 people in total, briefly making OPEK Leuven the heart of the Dutch-language playwriting world.
The tone for this successful edition was set immediately on the opening night with the delivery of the State of the Playwright. Author Annet Bremen took the floor and made a fiery, inspiring plea for the autonomous position of the playwright within a theater process. This inspiring text can now be read at this page
See you next year in Amsterdam!
