29th Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival
Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre | GTS Gdańsk
Festival Dates: 25 July – 3 August 2025
Festival Motto: “Words, words, words”
An International Celebration of Shakespeare
The 29th edition of the International Shakespeare Festival brings together leading theatre companies and emerging artists from around the world for 10 days of bold interpretations of Shakespeare’s work. Productions from Japan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Spain and Poland will grace the stages in Gdańsk, including nine exciting premieres.
Among the highlights are:
- “Richard II” by Kochi Yamato (Japan)
- “The Tempest” by Oksana Dmitrieva (Ukraine)
- “A Macbeth Song”, an avant-garde musical take on Macbeth by The Tiger Lillies and La Perla 29 (UK/Spain)
View the full festival programme here:
Programme 2025
The Motto: “Words, words, words”
Taken from Hamlet (Act II, Scene 2), this year’s motto reflects on the overwhelming flow of language in both Shakespeare’s time and our own. Hamlet’s phrase exposes the hollowness of rhetoric, political doublespeak, and empty declarations. Today, with social media and nonstop digital communication, we face similar struggles.
The festival encourages audiences to seek truth and depth in language and performance, revisiting Shakespeare’s timeless insights in the noisy modern world.
Programme Highlights
Festival Opening: “The Tempest”
Director: Oksana Dmitrieva (Maria Zankovetska National Theatre, Ukraine)
25 July
This bold Ukrainian adaptation opens the festival. Called “the most intelligent and imaginative interpretation of The Tempest in fifty years” by Michael Dobson (Shakespeare Institute, UK), the production delves into power, colonisation and utopia.
“Richard II”
Director: Kochi Yamato (G. Garage Shakespeare-dô Company, Japan)
27 July
A minimalist, spiritual approach inspired by Japanese “dō” traditions, noh theatre, and live music by Mama!milk and Emi Eleonola. Costumes by Shingo Tokihiro.
“A Macbeth Song”
By: The Tiger Lillies & La Perla 29
31 July
A darkly comic, cabaret-inspired take on Macbeth, with 22 original songs by Martyn Jacques. Featuring Catalan actors Màrcia Cisteró, Enric Cambray and Andrew Tarbet. Directed by Oriol Broggi.
“Learlike” – ShakeSphere Competition Winner
2–3 August
Directed by Cecilia Thoden van Velzen, this all-female ensemble (Greensleeved) reimagines King Lear from the viewpoint of his daughters — intelligent, manipulative, and powerful.
“Enter Ghost”
2 August
A poetic and experimental reinterpretation of Hamlet’s first act by Weronika Szczawińska and the Stefan Jaracz Theatre (Olsztyn), co-produced by Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre.
Final Concert: The Tiger Lillies
3 August
After the closing verdicts are announced, The Tiger Lillies return for a festival-ending concert.
Competitions
Golden Yorick Competition
Since 1994, this award has recognised the best Polish Shakespeare productions of the season. This year’s contenders:
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream – dir. Michał Zadara (Komedia Theatre, Warsaw)
- A Winter’s Tale – dir. Pamela Leończyk (Teatr Powszechny, Warsaw)
- Julius Caesar – dir. Błażej Biegasiewicz (Modrzejewska Theatre, Legnica)
New Yorick 2025
A competition for young directors and theatre collectives. Winners will present “work in progress” performances:
- Coriolanus – Jadwiga Klata (Kraków)
- The Taming of the Shrew – Ewa Platt (Opole)
- Richard III: The Bloody Throne – Patrycja Wysokińska (Bydgoszcz)
ShakespeareOFF 2025
Supporting independent theatre artists with original projects inspired by Shakespeare. Each project receives production funding of PLN 25,000. Finalists include:
- We are all Ryszards. Exhumation 2000 – AZBEST collective
- Songs of Miranda – Krzysztof Cicheński
- Merry Wives – Kalina Dębska, Maja Michnacka, Agnieszka Kijewska
- Ryszard! – Daria Holovchanska & Marcin Tomkiel
- Macbeth – a study of a dream – Walny-Teatr
International Jury
Festival awards will be decided by an esteemed international jury:
- Prof. Marta Gibińska – Shakespeare scholar, SWPS & Jagiellonian University
- Dr. Agata Romaniuk – Writer, reporter, sociologist
- Zishan Ugurlu – Actress, director, La MaMa Theatre (New York)
Tickets
Tickets go on sale 9 June 2025
Visit festiwalszekspirowski.pl for reservations and updates.
About the Festival
The International Shakespeare Festival, co-organised by the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre and the Theatrum Gedanense Foundation, has welcomed over 250 theatre companies from 40+ countries since its inception. Major figures of world theatre have participated, including Peter Brook, Luk Perceval, Romeo Castellucci, and many others.
The Festival is also the founding body of the European Shakespeare Festivals Network (ESFN), based in Gdańsk and comprising 16 festivals from across the continent.
In 2017, the Festival received the EFFE Award, one of Europe’s most prestigious cultural accolades, recognising artistic excellence and community impact.
Strategic Patron
Energa, part of the Orlen Group
Media Contact
Paulina Popiół
PR Manager, Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre +48 535 111 904
✉️ paulina.popiol@teatrszekspirowski.pl
