News

During the season, 200 performances were staged on the CNT’s Main Stage, 32 in the foyer and rehearsal hall, and 77 programmes at the new HNK2 venue, alongside numerous guest performances and collaborations in Croatia and abroad. A total of 144,123 audience members visited the Theatre during the season, with an impressive average auditorium occupancy of 97.95%. The strength of audience interest is further demonstrated by as many as 271 sold-out performances.

One of the most significant moments of the 2025/2026 season was the opening of the new HNK2 venue on 3 November 2025. After several decades, the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb gained its long-awaited second stage, as well as renovated theatre workshops essential to the further development of its production capacities. Initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and funded by the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the opening of HNK2 represents one of the greatest infrastructural and artistic advances in the Theatre’s recent history and an important step towards a contemporary operating model for Croatia’s national theatre. The new venue has provided the CNT in Zagreb with greater programming flexibility, opportunities to create new artistic formats and scope to develop new projects. As a contemporary, multipurpose space intended for drama, opera, ballet and multimedia projects, HNK2 has opened the way for experimentation, contemporary theatrical poetics and closer collaboration among the Theatre’s three artistic ensembles – Drama, Opera and Ballet.

“For the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, the 2025/2026 season was a year of major projects, intense artistic activity and exceptional audience interest. The opening of HNK2 has given us new opportunities to develop our programme and a space for projects that bring our ensembles together, while numerous premieres, international collaborations and guest performances have further strengthened the Theatre’s position on the Croatian and international scenes. We are especially delighted by the confidence shown by our audiences, reflected in more than 144,000 visitors and auditoriums filled almost to capacity.
I would like to thank all the artists and employees of the CNT whose work contributed to this successful season. We will continue to develop programmes that combine artistic excellence, tradition and new theatrical formats,” emphasised the General Manager and Artistic Director of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, Iva Hraste Sočo, PhD.

Drama – A Strong Repertoire and New Theatre Partnerships

The Drama programme featured no fewer than seven premieres: Always Be Like a Dragon, Flags, Handle with Care, Cabaret, The Agamemnon Trilogy 2.0, Mary Stuart and An Ideal Husband.

The CNT Drama continued to pursue extensive international and national collaborations. Its productions appeared in Osijek, Sofia, Maribor and Malta. The Drama ensemble presented Fyodor M. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, directed by Jernej Lorenci, at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia, Bulgaria. It also took part in the 36th Marulić Days with two productions: Espi Tomičić’s Always Be a Dragon, directed by Olja Lozica, and the co-production Wooden Birds by Lidija Deduš, directed by Ivan Plazibat. Tomislav Šoban’s Reality was presented at the 61st Maribor Theatre Festival. As part of the European DoSEL project, Always Be Like a Dragon was performed at the Manoel Theatre in Malta, while the K-CNT project fostered collaboration among Croatia’s national theatres and resulted in a co-production of Richard III with the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and the Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin.

The opening of the new HNK2 venue marked an important step forward for the Drama ensemble, enabling a different approach to shaping its repertoire. The venue hosted the premieres of Cabaret, choreographed and directed by Leo Mujić, and Schiller’s Mary Stuart, directed by Matija Ferlin.

Opera – A Tradition of Excellence

Throughout the season, the Opera ensemble continued to develop a repertoire combining masterpieces of operatic literature with contemporary artistic interpretations.

The Opera of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb marked the 2025/2026 season with a series of major artistic projects, international collaborations and appearances by leading opera artists, reaffirming its important role on the European opera scene. The third edition of the Zagreb Opera Festival, which brought together renowned European opera houses and artists, held a particularly prominent place in the programme. The Festival opened with the CNT Opera’s performance of Massenet’s Werther, conducted by Opera Chief Conductor Pier Giorgio Morandi and co-produced with Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. Zagreb audiences also had an opportunity to see visiting productions by the Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana (Manon Lescaut), the Sofia Opera and Ballet (Wagner’s Die Walküre) and the Slovene National Theatre Maribor (Verdi’s Otello). The fourth Zagreb International Opera Festival will take place from 11 to 20 September 2026.

One of the season’s most significant artistic achievements was the major international co-production of Verdi’s Aida by the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the Csokonai National Theatre in Debrecen. The production premiered under the musical direction of Pier Giorgio Morandi and was directed by Mario Pontiggia. A gala performance featuring internationally acclaimed tenor Stefano La Colla further underscored the project’s international character.

Another important achievement was Wagner’s Tannhäuser, produced in collaboration with the Slovene National Theatre Maribor and directed by Frank Van Laecke, with Srba Dinić conducting. Thanks to the OperaVision platform, the production was made available to audiences worldwide and can be streamed until 19 December 2026.

The CNT Opera further enriched its season with major concert events, including a performance at the Zagreb Classic festival. The CNT Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Ivan Repušić, were joined by internationally acclaimed American opera stars: soprano Erin Morley, a regular soloist at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s leading bel canto tenors. By combining major operatic works, international co-productions, festival programmes and appearances by world-renowned artists, the CNT Opera in Zagreb once again affirmed its artistic excellence and international profile.

Ballet – Between Classical Tradition and New Visions of Dance

The CNT Ballet in Zagreb marked the season with three premieres: a new production of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, choreographed by Rudolf Nureyev; Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, choreographed by Paul Chalmer; and Othello, an original production based on William Shakespeare’s play and set to music by Gustav Mahler, choreographed by Valentina Turcu.

The theatrical year will be remembered as a period of exceptional artistic progress, bringing together the highest standards of classical ballet and contemporary original dance theatre. The 2025/2026 season was conceived as a dynamic dialogue between the most demanding classical ballet repertoire and powerful contemporary choreographic voices, with the ensemble once again demonstrating its outstanding technical skill and artistic maturity. Particular attention was also devoted to developing future generations of artists through a scholarship programme and the work of the Ballet Studio, reflecting the CNT’s systematic investment in nurturing Croatian ballet talent.

A particular highlight of the season was the gala performance of The Sleeping Beauty on 13 April 2026, featuring Nicoletta Manni, prima ballerina of the Ballet of Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and principal dancer Timofej Andrijashenko as special guests. Their appearance, which followed shortly after the sold-out premiere of The Sleeping Beauty, continued the CNT in Zagreb’s successful collaboration with leading European ballet companies.

Awards and Honours

The exceptional season was accompanied by numerous professional, festival and institutional honours. Wooden Birds, a co-production by the Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin and the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb within the K-CNT project, received the Croatian Theatre Award for Best Drama Production, while Ivan Plazibat won the award for Best Director. At the 36th Marulić Days, the production received three further honours: the Audience Award, an acting award for Klara Fiolić and an award for set design for Zdravka Ivandija Kirigin.

The CNT Ballet also achieved outstanding success: Hamlet received the Croatian Theatre Award for Best Ballet Production, Leo Mujić won the award for Best Choreography, Guilherme Gameiro Alves received the award for a male ballet role, and Pavel Savin received the award for an outstanding achievement by a young artist for his role in Carmen. Lifetime achievement awards were presented to retired CNT national principals Branka Cvitković and Almira Osmanović.

Cabaret, one of the flagship projects of the new HNK2 venue, received the Golden Studio Award for Best Theatre Production of the Year, while Devin Juraj won the Gumbek Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the Emcee. Among other important honours, Drama Artistic Director Tena Štivičić received the Helene Weigel Theatre Award, while General Manager and Artistic Director Iva Hraste Sočo, PhD, received the Tihomir Premužak Award for Positive Social Impact and the Zvonimir Torjanac Award for Overall Artistic and Social Contribution to Theatre as part of the annual awards honouring the year’s best managers. The CNT in Zagreb also received the EPL Award for Excellence in Business Communication, while the Theatre’s Tito Strozzi Award was presented to the ballet production The Firebird/Petrushka.

Towards New Artistic Achievements

The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb concludes a season marked by major productions, strong international partnerships and record audience interest. Auditoriums filled almost to capacity throughout the year demonstrate that the CNT in Zagreb is successfully meeting the expectations of its loyal audiences while also attracting new generations of theatregoers.

As it enters the new season, the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb continues to build a repertoire that brings together tradition and contemporary artistic expression, supports the development of Croatian artists and creates opportunities for international collaboration, while remaining one of the central institutions of Croatian cultural life.