29th International Shakespeare Festival in Gdansk
As a (mid)summer dream, for the 29th time Gdansk becomes the summer stage to one of the largest international festivals for Shakespearean performances and theatre artists from around the world, with a rich programme embracing performances, theatrical practices and collateral activities.
From 25 July to 3 August 2025, the city of Gdansk once again will open its doors to the International Shakespeare Festival, this year reaching its 29th edition. International Theatre Companies and ensembles will gather from Japan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Spain and Poland staging avant-garde versions and adaptations of the all time famous shakesperean operas.
The festival showcases the winners of the New Yorick Competition, and is the playground for the finalists of the Golden Yorick Competition and the ShakespeareOFF competition, chaired by an international jury.
With a rich offer of collateral activities, including community readings, Elizabethan dinners and theatre night tours, the festival sets an all round immersive experience in Shakespeare time, words and worlds - welcoming the spectator to catch their resonances in the contemporary world.
"Words, words, words" - Hamlet (Act II, scene 2)
SHOWS - PROGRAMME
The Tempest, by National Academic Ukrainian Drama - 25 July, Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski - Opening Gala
The Taming of the Shrew, by Jan Kochanowski Theatre - 26 July, Wybrzeże Theatre
Ryszard!, Marcin Tomkiel and Daria Holovchanska - 26 July, Klub Żak
We are all Ryszards. Exhumation 2000, by AZBEST - 27 July, Wybrzeże Theatre, Old Apothecary
Richard II, by G. Garage Shakespeare-dô Company - 27 July, Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski
Opowieść zimowa (A Winter Tale), by, Teatr Powszechny im. – 28 July, Wybrzeże Theatre
The Merry Wives, by Dębska / Kijewska / Michnacka collective – 29 July, Klub Żak
A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Komedia Theatre – 29 July, Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski
Macbeth – a study of a dream, by Walny-Teatr – 29 and 30 July, Wybrzeże Theatre, Old Apothecary
Julius Caesar, by Helena Modrzejewska Theatre – 30 July, 100cznia
Coriolanus, by Juliusz Słowacki Theatre – 30 July, Wybrzeże Theatre
A Macbeth song, by La Perla 29 & The Tiger Lillies – 31 July, Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski
Songs of Miranda, by Krzysztof Cicheński – 31 July and 1 August, Klub Żak
Richard III: The Bloody Throne, by Teatr Polski w Bydgoszczy – 1 August, Wybrzeże Theatre
Learlike, by Cecilia Thoden van Velzen, Greensleeved – 2 and 3 August, Klub Żak
Wchodzi Duch (Enter Ghost), by Stefan Jaracz Theatre, Olsztyn and Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski – 2 August, Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski
The Tiger Lillies Concert – CLOSING GALA - Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski
COLLATERAL EVENTS
Silent Disco with Nowy Świat Radio- 25 July, Courtyard or Magazyn Scene
No Beast. So Fierce. FILM ADAPTATION OF „RICHARD III – 26 July and 3 August, Kino Kameralne Cafe
Shakespeare’s plant kingdom / WALK – 27 July, starting point: GTS Courtyard
Hamlet, dir. Sean Mathias / MOVIE – 27 July, Kino Kameralne Cafe
How japanese is the japanese theatre? / INTRODUCTION TO THE PLAY – 27 July, Magazyn Scene
From word to word / talks about plays and Shakespeare by the Polish Shakespeare Society – 28 July and 3 August, GTS Courtyard
Night tour of the theatre – 29 July, Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski
Shakespeare and psychology / MEETING – 31 July, suspension hall GTS
Musical saw and grater workshops with The Tiger – 1 August, Magazyn Scene
Elisabethan dinner / TASTING AND MEETING – 1 August, Sztuczka Restaurant
Romeo and Juliet OPERA REBROADCAST – 2 August, Kino Kameralne Cafe
Teatime at Bill’s COMMUNITY PERFORMATIVE READING – 2 July, Professor Limon Library