03/27/2026
HAPPY WORLD THEATRE DAY 2026!
Willem Dafoe reminds us of the deeply human necessity of theatre in a world saturated by artificial intelligence, social media, and digital feeds. He advocates for theatre’s ability to "connect peoples, communities, cultures, and above all to question where we are going. Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to imagine what we aspire to."
https://tcg.org/Web/Our-Work/International/WTD-international.aspx
And Moises Kaufman beautifully articulates theatre’s power in culture, reflecting on the word “tectonic" (the name if his theatre company):
"It refers to the forces beneath the earth’s surface — slow, invisible pressures that eventually reshape landscapes. Theatre works in a similar way. It may not create immediate transformation, but it exerts pressure. It shifts perception. It unsettles assumptions. It opens cracks through which empathy can enter.
And empathy is not a sentimental concept. It is an ethical practice.
When actors embody other people — when they carry their words, their cadences, their hesitations — they ask us to imagine what it feels like to inhabit another life. That imaginative act is foundational to democracy. A democratic society depends upon our capacity to see beyond ourselves.
Peace, too, depends on that capacity.”
https://tcg.org/Web/Our-Work/International/WTD-US
And emerging artist, Banna Desta, says "storytelling is the bloodline of humanity, pumping empathy and understanding, reinforcing purpose and preserving culture and legacy in our hearts..."
She emphasizes how theatre is about leaning on each other, working together in collaboration, and protecting each other’s dignity…especially in a world where even our highest leaders are encouraging us to be cruel to each other.
Theatre is "where we can seek more thoughtful provocations about our times, it is where our heartbeats synchronize, it is where we enter the dark to feel the light. We must be fearless and relentless in protecting this sacred space and to attempt at making the connection.”
https://tcg.org/Web/Our-Work/International/WTD-US-Emergent
So honored that we get to witness the beauty and power of theatrical storytelling in practice tonight, when students and faculty who have worked with guest artist Tim Miller and Mona Eldashoury all week share their work...
https://tcg.org/Web/Our-Work/International/World-Theatre-Day.aspx
The Global Theater Initiative (GTI), a partnership between Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University (the Lab), selects two US-based voices each year to celebrate World Theatre Day: the US Author and the US Emergent Author, who...
