Writing on theatre
International call open to young under-30 graduates from all over the world with an excellent knowledge of spoken and written Italian language, researchers in Theatre, to write critical texts that will be collected in a publication of La Biennale di Venezia.
Research will be on the ground: the selected candidates will be invite to participate to the 54th International Theatre Festival and the conversations with artists.
On the basis of the theme proposed by the Director of the Theatre Department, Willem Dafoe, the selected candidates will carry out in the Archives, guided by tutor, a search for sources and historical references, to write a text in Italian of a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 15 pages, from its first draft to the printed version.
A maximum of 4 candidates will be selected.
Three phases of research and activities are planned in Venice in the Biennale venues (Ca’ Giustinian, Arsenale, Giardini, Biennale Library at Giardini, Historical Archives at Vega)
Thanks to Swiss Seaside Foundation.
TITLE
Alter NATIVE
THEME
This year’s edition of the Biennale Teatro is titled Alter NATIVE. The Artistic director Willem Dafoe has chosen this title by combining the word ALTER, as in change , with NATIVE- as your nature.
Or ALTER as in other – NATIVE - as the culture one is from.
Starting from the meaning of the words that make up the title of the 54th International Theatre Festival and the festival programme, together with the tutor, the participants will attend all the performances of Biennale Teatro, following all the scheduled activities in which the lines of research will be explored.
Last year, in our program we concentrated on the body, the presence of the actor, and poetry beyond narrative. And I want to continue that exploration in this coming year’s edition.
However, rather than presenting people whose work I knew, this year we have invited pieces from beyond Western commercial and institutional theatre circles. The lack of familiarity allows us to return to the roots of theatre, to reawaken the essential contact between artist and spectator.
For me, the strength and uniqueness of theatre – the total art form – is its directness, ritual and human meeting. In this truth-challenged world we have to return to taking our understanding and engagement from direct perception.
[…] In search of work grown from a humanist/community base rather than a careerist/commercial one- we looked into communities where theatre serves a public to entertain, inspire and instill a sense of wonder and possibility, whose intentions are rooted in their own traditions but with the attempt to invite the future.
Willem Dafoe
Tutor: Katia Ippaso
Katia Ippaso is a journalist, critic and playwright. She writes about theatre for Il Venerdì di Repubblica and Il Messaggero. As an expert in the performing arts and a journalist, she presents Pantagruel on Radio 3, where she also runs the Teatro in Prova column. She contributes to Terzogiornale and Liminateatri.
As an essayist, with Editoria e Spettacolo she has published: L'isola che c'era, grandi maestri al Teatro Ateneo (2020), Le voci di Santiago (reportage from Chile), Io sono un'attrice - I teatri di Roberto Latini and Amleto a Gerusalemme (reportage from Palestine). During July 2017 she published Professione attore, a book commissioned by Nuovo Imaie. In 2008, she published her first novel for Perrone, Nell'ora che è d'oro, set in New York.
Her play Doll is mine earned the Aide à la création from the French Ministry of Culture, and was staged at the Theatre de Nesle in Paris. Paranza il Miracolo is another play of Katia Ippaso, a bittersweet portrait of today's Italy that won the 2013 edition of Teatri del Sacro and was represented, directed by Clara Gebbia and Enrico Roccaforte, in some major Italian national theatres of Palermo, Rome, and Milan. Her script Non domandarmi di me, Marta mia, based on the Luigi Pirandello-Marta Abba correspondence, debuted with Elena Arvigo and directed by Arturo Armone Caruso at the Napoli Teatro Festival 2019 edition and is still on tour. Over the years, she has held seminars and workshops on theatrical criticism and dramaturgical writing at the University of Rome La Sapienza (Department of Performing Arts) and at Silvio D’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts.
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
First phase - from 7 June 2026 to 22 June 2026
Participation in the activities scheduled within the 54th International Theatre Festival (16 days) and beginning of research activities at the Historical Archive and Library guided by the tutor.
Second phase - from 20 July 2026 to 24 July 2026
Specific research activities at the Historical Archive and Library guided by the tutor;
Deadline for sending the first draft of the text 7 September 2026
Third phase - from 21 September 2026 to 25 September 2026
Analysis and in-depth study of the first draft of the text with the tutor at the Historical Archive and the Library;
The deadline for sending the final text is 25 October 2026.
Conditions and rules of participation
The international call is open to young under-30 graduates from all over the world with an excellent knowledge of spoken and written Italian language.
Attendance for the whole programme is mandatory for participation in the project.
A maximum of 4 candidates will be selected.
The selected participants will be hosted in shared apartments provided by la Biennale di Venezia.
La Biennale di Venezia will also provide participants with tickets for local public transport and meals (lunches).
Selected participants will be required to pay a registration fee in the amount of € 80.00 (VAT included, non-refundable), to be paid exclusively by credit card.
Note: Applications will not be accepted from candidates selected in previous Biennale College ASAC - Writing in Residency editions.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Documentation
The documentation - which must be sent in Italian exclusively via the online form - consists of:
a) Curriculum vitae - please also specify:
a.1) Bachelor's/Master's degree or equivalent degree
a.2) thesis degree title, course of study
a.3) knowledge of spoken and written Italian - minimum required level C1
a.4) other languages known and level
b) submission of 2 texts
1 - cover letter (maximum length 2 pages)
2 - an essay, including bibliographical references, on a theatre show seen (maximum length 2 pages)
La Biennale di Venezia reserves the right in any case to modify, cancel or interrupt the initiative described above, in that the announcement or the selection do not constitute a binding contract for the same, nor do they entail the right to the reimbursement of any expense other than those specified above.
The integral acceptance of the conditions of the Biennale College ASAC – Writing in residency - Theatre call makes the application eligible.
Applications open on May 14th, 2026
Applications deadline May 24th, 2026