In June and July, Sofia will once again become a stage for major international theatre. World Theatre in Sofia celebrates its 20th edition with a programme that brings Bulgarian audiences five outstanding titles from the contemporary European and international stage. The platform is part of the Cultural Calendar of Sofia Municipality for 2026 and continues its longstanding mission to place Sofia in dialogue with some of the most powerful artistic developments on the international scene.

The edition opens on 9 June at the Bulgarian Army Theatre with Shakespeare’s classic The Tempest, directed by Viktor Bodó — one of the most distinctive and daring theatre makers of the contemporary stage and recipient of the 2016 Europe Prize Theatrical Realities. Awarded the UNITER Prize for lighting design, the production is a modern, dynamic, humorous and visually lavish interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic tale, in which some of the actors are also musicians. Theatre and magic intertwine in a complex metaphor of power, while Prospero’s island becomes a space ruled by illusion. The production is staged by the Tamási Áron Theatre from Sfântu Gheorghe — a professional state theatre of the Hungarian minority in Romania, founded in 1948 and named after the writer Áron Tamási (1897–1966), an author of Hungarian origin born in Romania, who wrote novels, short stories and dramatic texts. The performance offers a strongly visual, analytical and multilayered reading of one of Shakespeare’s most complex plays, in which the question of directing the world also becomes a question about the limits of domination.

On 11 June, at Toplocentrala Regional Centre for Contemporary Arts, the programme continues with Illusions by Ivan Vyrypaev, directed by Galin Stoev — one of the most recognizable Bulgarian names in the international theatre context. In this text, at once tender and merciless, love is revealed as a territory of belated truths and self-deceptions. The story of two elderly couples who believe they have lived their lives in closeness and devotion gradually turns into a subtle драмaturgical exploration of how fragile our notions of the other — and of ourselves — truly are. The production continues Galin Stoev’s long-standing creative dialogue with Vyrypaev’s dramaturgy, a dialogue that has passed through remarkable productions such as Archaeology of Dreaming, Oxygen, Genesis 2, Delhi Dance and Unbearably Long Embraces, and promises a moving and unforgettable encounter.

Jan Mikulášek, one of the most awarded contemporary Czech directors, returns to Husa na provázku Theatre in Brno with a modern multimedia and mercilessly ironic portrait of Karl Marx and his family. His production The Marx Family Saga, presented at the Aleko Konstantinov Satirical Theatre on 16 June, is a free stage adaptation of the novel of the same name by the Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo. In it, the director combines the original text with his personal perception of the controversial figure of Karl Marx. Like the novel, the production blends past and present. With humour, irony and an original theatrical language, the performance examines the complex figure of Karl Marx as an individual human being whose ideas have influenced the destinies of millions. The guest performance of The Marx Family Saga is supported by the Czech Centre Sofia.

The final live highlight of the programme is the Italian production by Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione of Samuel Beckett’s classic theatre of the absurd play Waiting for Godot, directed by the renowned Greek director Theodoros Terzopoulos, on the Main Stage of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre on 7 July. Winner of numerous international awards, Terzopoulos is the founder and president of one of the world’s most prestigious theatre forums — the Theatre Olympics. His groundbreaking 1986 production of Euripides’ The Bacchae radically changed the understanding of how ancient tragedy could be staged on the contemporary theatre scene. He has developed an original theatrical aesthetic marked by elements of physical theatre and an anthropological interest in ritual practices. The guest presentation of Waiting for Godot will be the first live showing in Bulgaria of a production by this major director and is presented in cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute in Sofia.

The World Theatre in Sofia programme also includes a special screening on 22 June — Gogol’s The Government Inspector by the great theatrical visionary Yuri Butusov (1961–2025), who ranks among the brightest and most internationally acclaimed Russian theatre directors and was a multiple recipient of the Golden Mask Award. After 2022, he continued his theatre career in Europe until his tragic death in Sozopol in August 2025. This spectacular production features the renowned actor Konstantin Raikin in the role of Khlestakov.

All performances are surtitled in Bulgarian and English.

Tickets are on sale through the box offices and online systems of the host venues. The full World Theatre in Sofia programme is available HERE.

World Theatre in Sofia is part of the Sofia Municipality Cultural Events Calendar for 2026 and is presented with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Czech Centre Sofia and the Italian Cultural Institute.