Natalia Skorokhod

Worked as a Full Professor of Theatre and Dramaturgy at the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts (RGISI) in St. Petersburg

Founder of the School of Playwriting in St. Petersburg

Author of several books and more than a hundred articles on theatre and drama

Public lecturer on contemporary theatre and drama

Member of AICT/International Association of Theatre Critics

Curator and leader of numerous Playwright’s Labs, including Miracle Spring: Theatre Laboratory in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg

Participant in numerous international festivals and projects

{ Dr. in Art Studies }

Participated in the Russian Program at George Washington University as a Non-Resident Fellow

Served as a Board Member of EuNetArt (European Network for Artists working for and with Young People)

Natalia Lapina

Worked as an Artistic Director of State Russian Theater of Estonia (Vene Teater, Tallinn), then became an Artistic Director of St. Petersburg Urban Theatre — one of a few female Artistic Directors in Russia

Worked as Associate Professor of Acting in Russian State Institute of Performing Arts (St. Petersburg)

Theatre Director and Author of more than 50 shows in Germany, Estonia, Russia, Poland, USA

Participant and winner of many International Theatre Festivals (Finland, Estonia, Ukraine, Russia, Spain, Romania, United Kingdom)

Nominee and winner of a few Russian prestigious Theatre Awards such as "Golden Mask", "Golden Soffit" etc.

Participant of New York Lincoln Center Director’s Lab and Chicago Director’s Lab

Curator of numerous Director’s Labs

Сonducted workshops on different acting techniques and methods (Stanislavski, Meyerhold, M. Chekhov, Adler) in Poland, Sweden, USA, Russia

{ Artistic Director of Urban Theater }

Witalij Schmidt

Earned a PhD in the theory of declamation at the Institute for Slavic Studies, University of Regensburg

Was a key figure in numerous international research, book, exhibition, and cultural projects funded by public grants

Was awarded the University Prize of the City of Regensburg (formerly the Professor Josef Engert Prize) for outstanding academic work

Editor of a monograph and two collected volumes on the theory of declamation by S. I. Bernshtein, as well as several academic articles

Contributed as an actor, director, and leader of various student theater groups at the Theater of the University of Regensburg

Organized the festival "III. Russian Cultural Days in Europe"

Owner of the cultural agency "AD ASTRA events"

Worked at the funding organization Initiative Musik gGmbH as the head of music club funding and project manager of five NEUSTART KULTUR subprograms under the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, aimed at supporting clubs, promoters, and festivals

{ Commercial Director of Urban Theater }

Daniel Jacewicz

Daniel Jacewicz is a theater director, actor, and artistic director of the Brama Theater in Goleniów, established in 1996. He invented and created Goleniowskie Spotkania Teatralne BRAMAT and Festiwal Młodości Teatralnej ŁAKNIENIA, winner of international theater festivals. He directed the performances Zabava (2000), Gaz (2003), My (2007), Uczucia w dziwięku (2009) and others. In addition to active activities in Poland, the Brama Theater under Daniel’s leadership also participates in international projects, for example, with the Stella Polaris Theater from Norway, centers in Germany, Greece, Spain, Ukraine, Peru, the USA, and recently also with Odin Teatret from Denmark.

In his theater, Daniel develops a cultural and educational direction, the main task of which is to prove that theater is a tool of social interaction, without which it is impossible to conduct an international cultural dialogue.

Poland

Johannes Kirsten

Johannes Kirsten has studied literature and philosophy in Berlin and New York. After working at various theaters in Germany, including the National Theater in Mannheim, Centraltheater Leipzig and Schauspiel Hannover as well as freelance work for the Ruhr Triennial and the National Theater of Korea in Seoul, he has been employed as head dramaturg at the Maxim Gorky Theater since 2020. Johannes has collaborated with several prominent theatre directors and artists, including Oliver Frljić, Nurkan Erpulat, Lola Arias, Sascha Hawemann, Rainald Grebe, Dušan David Pařízek and Maxim Didenko. He also worked as a curator for HELLERAU European Centre for the arts (Dresden) with a special focus on Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

Contemporary plays, new interpretations of classical pieces and an interdisciplinary approach define the programme of the Gorki, a theatre for the whole city, and that includes everyone who has arrived in the city in the last few decades, whether in search of asylum, whether in exile, whether they be immigrants or simply people who grew up in Berlin.

Germany

Birgit Lengers

Birgit Lengers has worked on many projects and with renowned directors who have left their mark on theater in Berlin, Germany and internationally. For example, she has worked with director Thorsten Lensing in the independent theater scene. She taught at the University of Hildesheim, headed the "Deutsches Theater International" sections at the Deutsches Theater and ran the "Junges Deutsches Theater" for 12 years. In the 2023−2024 season, she was director and co-curator of the festival "Fokus Ukraine — Europäisches Theaterfestival 777 TAGE 777 ДНIВ 777 DAYS" at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, where she currently heads the participatory section "Stadt:Kollektiv". Birgit also founded the RADAR OST festival (2018 — 2023) at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, which aims to strengthen relationships between European, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian artists.

Birgit’s approach is to think and work across all borders, be they geographical, cultural or interdisciplinary.

Germany

Luk Perceval

Luk Perceval is a Flemish theatre director who began his career as an actor at the National Theatre in Antwerp. In 1984 he founded Blauwe Maandag Cie, a company in which he experimented with different forms and rehearsal methods. Luk Perceval’s productions are known for their innovative approach and have won him numerous international awards. He has worked with some of the most prominent cultural institutions in Europe, including the Munich Kammerspiele, the Schaubühne am Leninplatz in Berlin, the Berlin State Opera, the Vienna Festival and the Salzburg Festival. Until 2016 he was also the leading director of the Thalia Theater in Hamburg. Since then he has worked internationally as a freelance director in cities all over Europe.

In addition to his theatre work, Luk Perceval is a yoga and meditation teacher, and his work combines his interest in the ritual and spiritual dimensions of theatre with a great curiosity for new forms. His openness to new techniques and methods in directing and scenography, and for his unique and inimitable approach to every aspect of the production process, from rehearsal to preparation makes Luk Perceval’s work outstanding.

Belgium