As a partner organisation of the Creative Europe project MEDUSA – Contemporary Playwriting and Inclusive Identities in Europe, we are delighted to announce the six plays selected for the project.
Together, these six works reflect the diversity of contemporary European playwriting. Through a wide range of aesthetic approaches, they explore questions of identity, social belonging, power and marginalised perspectives. Alongside their artistic quality, they were selected for their transnational potential and their ability to resonate across linguistic and cultural boundaries.
For an insight into the selection process and the discussions that shaped the transnational MEDUSA Observatory, read Charlotte Bomy’s blog article (in English):
https://www.medusa-project.eu/the-medusa-observatories-meet-in-domicella-a-european-conversation-ontheatre-and-identity/
Throughout the project, all six plays will be translated into German, Italian, Bulgarian and English. In Germany, they will be presented as staged readings during the MEDUSA Festival, which will take place from 5th to 7th November 2026 at the Roter Salon of the Volksbühne Berlin (programme: https://www.volksbuehne-berlin.de/reihen-und-projekte/medusa/).
MEDUSA Selection 2026
- Natalie Baudy (Germany) – under the influence oder: die rückkehr der bakchen (under the influence or: the return of the bacchae)
- Teodora Georgieva (Bulgaria) – СИЛНИ. СМЕЛИ. СТРАХОВИТИ. (Strong. Brave. Fearsome.)
- Silva Marinova (Bulgaria) – ДЕБЕЛАКЪТ (FATASS)
- Tatjana Motta (Italy) – Notte Bianca (White Night)
- Alessandro Paschitto (Italy) – Sesso (Sex)
- Lena Riemer (Germany) – aufstiegskörper. ein fühlversuch (ascending bodies. a felt experiment)
The selection was made by the internal and external members of the transnational MEDUSA Observatory: Stefania Bruno (En Kai Pan, Italy), Charlotte Bomy (Drama Panorama e. V., Germany), Valentina Curatelli (independent actor and director, Italy), Gergana Dimitrova (36 Monkeys, Bulgaria), Monica Marotta (Das Kombinat e. V., Germany), Silvia Petrova (EURODRAM BG Foundation, Bulgaria), Paola Rotta (independent theatre director, Italy), and Anelia Yaneva (dramaturg, Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria).
MEDUSA is a collaborative project bringing together En Kai Pan, Casa del Contemporaneo, 36 Monkeys, EURODRAM BG Foundation, Das Kombinat e. V., and Drama Panorama: Forum for Translation and Theatre e. V. The project aims to foster the international circulation of contemporary European playwriting and to promote theatre translation as an artistic practice of exchange, mediation and cultural dialogue.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
