European Theatres Meet in Zagreb: Grand Finale of the DoSEL Project (Drama of Smaller European Languages) Taking Place at CNT in ZagrebDrama — 01. October 2026.
From 6 to 8 October 2026, Zagreb will become a meeting point for European theatres and a forum for discussion about the future of plays written in smaller languages and the possibilities of bringing them across linguistic and national borders. Representatives of all the partners in the Drama of Smaller European Languages – DoSEL (2024–2026) project, co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, will gather in Zagreb. The partners in the project are: the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, Malta’s National Agency for the Performing Arts, Sala Beckett from Catalonia, the Estonian Theatre Agency, the National Theatre of Kosovo, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre from Bulgaria, the Prešeren Theatre in Kranj and the Arriaga Theatre in Bilbao.
The grand finale of the European project DoSEL – Drama of Smaller European Languages will take place on 7 October 2026 at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb with the presentation of the collection of plays EIGHT PLAYS. Drama of Smaller European Languages. The multi-year project has focused on the translation, presentation and international visibility of plays written in smaller European languages.
The project’s finale in Zagreb will place particular emphasis on the contribution of the CNT in Zagreb to connecting contemporary Croatian drama with the European theatre landscape. Croatian drama is represented in the publication by Dora Šustić’s Pičman, translated by Vladislav Beronja, and edited by Dino Pešut, dramaturg at the CNT Drama.
Pičman has also been included in the CNT Drama repertoire in the current season, with its world premiere scheduled for 4 April 2027. The production will be directed by the author and thus the play selected for international presentation as part of the DoSEL project will also be brought to the stage of the leading Croatian national theatre.
The book brings together eight plays translated into English. Alongside the Croatian play, the publication features works from the Basque Country, Malta, Catalonia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Bulgaria and Estonia. The launch in Zagreb will mark the culmination of several years of collaboration among eight European theatre and cultural institutions, united by a common goal: to make plays written in smaller European languages more accessible to an international readership, translators, theatre artists and other professionals.
CONTRIBUTION OF THE CNT IN ZAGREB: FROM PUBLICATION TO INTERNATIONAL GUEST PERFORMANCE
An important aspect of Croatia’s participation in the project was the international guest performance of the CNT Drama. The production Always Be Like a Dragon by Espi Tomičić, directed by Olja Lozica, was performed on 20 April 2026 at Teatru Manoel in Valletta, one of Europe’s oldest theatres. It was also the first time that the CNT in Zagreb performed in Malta.
The production was performed in Croatian with English surtitles, bringing a contemporary Croatian play to an international audience and creating new opportunities for artistic exchange and future collaboration.
The guest performance in Malta is one of the tangible outcomes of the DoSEL project, whose aim is to enable plays written in smaller European languages to reach new readers, performers and audiences, while encouraging further international guest performances, translations and productions on European stages.
FROM AVIGNON TO ZAGREB
The publication was first presented in July at the renowned Festival d’Avignon in France, as part of the European Theatre Talks programme organised by the European Theatre Convention. Following its international presentation in Avignon, the grand finale at the CNT in Zagreb will bring the project’s journey to a close, marking the culmination of a project that has connected diverse European theatre communities through translations, artistic exchanges, guest performances and new partnerships.
