The International Shakespeare Festival in Craiova returns this May with a program encompassing 450 performances and events held in 60 venues in the southern Romania city and its metropolitan area. It is the event’s most extensive program yet, according to the organizers. 

The festival takes place this year under the theme ‘Will matters/ Will generates matter,’ which is meant as an invitation “to discover will as creative energy in a city that will become an open stage for 11 days.”

The public will be able to (re)discover Shakespeare’s works in theater and dance performances, concerts, exhibitions, interactive installations, workshops, conferences, film screenings, and other formats.

The official selection will cover plays by Shakespeare, staged by theater companies from more than 30 countries. It will also include seven performances presented at OFF Avignon 2025.

After gathering an audience of more than 50,000 at the festival’s previous edition, Shakespeare Village will come back at this edition as well, as a replica of an English village of the 1600s. During the day, it will host various performances and artisans recreating the atmosphere of the Elizabethan Age, while in the evening, it will host various concerts.

Four squares in Craiova will turn into Shakespeare Squares for outdoor performances, while Shakespeare Metropolitan will take the festival to the neighborhoods and surrounding areas of the city.

The festival will have this year additional themed sections such as Shakespeare’s Apprentice, dedicated to contemporary theater; Shakespeare Visual, a visual arts section inspired by the work of the playwright; the film program Shakespeare Movies; and Shakespeare Innovations and Shakespeare Living Rooms, devised at the intersection of performing arts and new technologies.

Shakespeare Kids, Shakespeare Teen, and Shakespeare Seniors will reach out to the entire community, while student theater companies will also find a place in the festival at Shakespeare University and Shakespeare x Erasmus, which will bring more than 100 exchange students for three months at the University of Craiova.

“Will matters, this year’s theme, carries significant stakes: what we think and dream takes shape through will. Shakespeare matters not only as heritage, but as active energy. His work is living matter, shaped by each encounter with the stage and the audience. In the program of this edition, the public will discover the will that makes the world go round,” Vlad Drăgulescu, the festival’s president, said.

The International Shakespeare Festival in Craiova was named this year among the 12 Best Events in Europe 2026 by European Best Destinations.

The event takes place between May 21 and May 31.

(Illustration: the organizers)

simona@romania-insider.com