Shakespeare Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announce a year-long International Theatre Festival coming to Washington, DC. The festival, which kicks off in July, will present and celebrate the work of a wide range of theater artists from around the globe. The festival launch is supported by Events DC, helping to energize the Downtown DC arts and culture district.
“This festival started with a simple idea: what if DC’s Downtown theaters pooled our energy to bring global artists into conversation with our audiences—and with each other?” said Maria Manuela Goyanes, Artistic Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company/LCT3 at Lincoln Center. “DC is one of the most international cities in the world. It makes sense that our stages reflect that. I’m proud that Woolly is part of a collective effort to build deeper relationships across borders and expand what’s possible in American theater.”
The DC International Theatre Festival is a year-long celebration of the transformative partnerships forged between American and international theater artists across borders. DC theaters bring the best international talent to DC, and attract visitors from across the region and the country to experience world-class performances.
“DC is a uniquely international city and a city with a particularly robust theater scene,” says Studio Theatre Artistic Director David Muse. “Studio’s programming specifically has been enriched by artists from Japan, Ireland, South Africa, Norway, Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom, to name some of the playwrights and companies we’ve hosted in my time at Studio. So, when Maria reached out to Simon and myself about collaborating to bring international work to town, it was an easy yes.”
The festival begins July 1-20 with STC’s presentation of Duel Reality, an acrobatic retelling of Romeo and Juliet, created by The 7 Fingers (also known as Les 7 Doigts de la main), from Montréal, Québec. The company features aerial and circus artists from more than 10 countries, including Argentina, Guatemala, Sweden, France, Spain, Canada, and Mexico. The festival officially launches with a kick-off event at the opening night party of Duel Reality, Wednesday, July 2.
“Now more than ever is the time to come together, both locally, with our fellow institutions, and internationally,” says STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin. “I am excited to partner with our theater neighbors in bringing the work of international artists, writers, and performers to Washington. We hope other theaters in the District will join us in these endeavors throughout the coming year.”
The festival will continue throughout the 2025/2026 theatrical season, with each of the producer partner theaters presenting an international production or perspective in its season. In addition, a series of panel discussions and public events will explore the role of collaboration and artistic exploration across borders.
Programming for the DC International Theatre Festival is still being added, and updates can be found at the event’s official website: DCInternationalTheatreFestival.com
SPONSORS
The DC International Theatre Festival is supported in part by a grant from Events DC and DMPED.
PRODUCTIONS
In November, Woolly Mammoth Theatre opens ho ho ho ha ha ha ha, a festive take on the award-winning show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, from Julia Masli–an Estonian-born, London-based clown. The show comes to DC fresh off a global tour with stops in New York City (at The Public), and previously in Edinburgh, London, and Melbourne.
STC will bring the Royal Shakespeare Company to Harman Hall in March with its production of Hamnet. This will be the U.S. premiere of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Neal Street Production’s “sweeping and sentimental” (The Guardian) stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel, adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi) and directed by Erica Whyman.
June 2026 brings Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen to Studio Theatre. From Brazilian-Australian playwright Marcelo dos Santos and British director Matthew Xia comes a darkly comedic one-man show that journeys through self-awareness and self-sabotage with razor-sharp wit. The show, “which took the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by storm in 2022,” comes to DC from UK producer Francesca Moody Productions.
DISCUSSIONS & EVENTS
Sunday, September 21, a Discussion at Studio Theatre: Simon Godwin (Artistic Director, STC), Mina Morita (Bold Resident Director & Creative Producer, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company), will be moderated by the Japanese Embassy at Studio Theatre. Working across Japan and the United States, Mina and Simon speak to their cross-cultural experiences.
On September 26, Studio Theatre will present, in conjunction with CODAworx Summit, The Value of International Artistic Collaboration. This conversation will feature leaders from all three partner institutions, including Maria Manuela Goyanes (Artistic Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company/LCT3 at Lincoln Center), David Muse (Artistic Director, Studio Theatre), and Drew Lichtenberg (Artistic Producer, STC), in discussion with two luminaries in the public art world, Vincent Roy (Founder, EXMURO) and Jeremy Crandell (Arts Producer, Burning Man).
September 28, Woolly Mammoth will host The Power of Protokoll: Germany’s Global Company, which features Drew Lichtenberg (Artistic Producer, STC) and Maria Manuela Goyanes (Artistic Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre/LCT3 at Lincoln Center) in conversation with Helgard Haug (Rimini Protokoll). Presented by STC and the Goethe-Institut Washington, Drew Lichtenberg interviews Helgard Haug of the innovative German theater group Rimini Protokoll, alongside Maria Goyanes, on how theatre companies today are embracing Internationalism, Innovation, and Independence.
In conjunction with this event and as part of the wider festival, theater professionals from the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area will be invited to a special industry brunch with Helgard at the Goethe-Institut on September 30.
FULL LISTING BY DATE
Listing of events as of June 25, 2025. New events will be added to the Festival website.
JULY 2025
Duel Reality
By The 7 Fingers
Directed by Shana Carroll
Originally produced and created with Virgin Voyages
Commissioning Partner ArtsEmerson
July 1-20, 2025
Opening Night Celebration: Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Location: Harman Hall, STC
Presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company
Fusing circus, theater, and dance, two feuding families face off in an acrobatic sporting arena where death-defying stunts are challenged by life-affirming passion in this action-packed retelling of Romeo and Juliet. Duel Reality has toured the world and now brings its signature flair and acrobatic magic to Washington, DC The one-act, nonstop production is “a perfect summer diversion for the whole family” (MIXYPLIX), and “manages a beautiful retelling of the classic tale for Shakespeare lovers and non-lovers alike” (BroadwayWorld Seattle).
SEPTEMBER 2025
Event with the Japanese Embassy
Simon Godwin (Artistic Director, Shakespeare Theatre Company)
Mina Morita (Bold Resident Director & Creative Producer, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company)
Moderated by the Japanese Embassy
Sunday, September 21
Location: Studio Theatre, Mead Theatre
Presented by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Working across Japan and the United States, Mina and Simon speak to their experiences in cross-cultural theater production.
The Value of International Artistic Collaboration: A Panel Discussion
Maria Goyanes (Artistic Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company/LCT3 at Lincoln Center)
David Muse (Artistic Director, Studio Theatre)
Drew Lichtenberg (Artistic Producer, Shakespeare Theatre Company)
Vincent Roy (Founder, EXMURO)
Jeremy Crandell (Arts Producer, Burning Man)
Friday, September 26 at 7:00
Location: Studio Theatre, Mead Theatre|
Presented by Studio Theatre in conjunction with CODAworx Summit
A conversation with prominent artistic leaders about the importance of international artistic collaboration and exchange, and the challenges and opportunities therein.
The Power of Protokoll: Germany’s Global Company
Drew Lichtenberg (Artistic Producer, Shakespeare Theatre Company) In Conversation with Helgard Haug (Rimini Protokoll) and Maria Goyanes (Artistic Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre/LCT3 at Lincoln Center)
Sunday, September 28
Location: Woolly Mammoth Theatre
Presented by the Goethe-Institut Washington and Shakespeare Theatre Company
Since 2000, the constellation of artists known by the label of Rimini Protokoll has expanded the means of theater to create new perspectives on reality. Their work has been performed and invited to the most prestigious venues in the world, including Berlin Theatertreffen, Festival d’Avignon, Wiener Festwochen, and the Theatre Biennale in Venice, where they received the Silver Lion prize.
In this special event organized by the Goethe-Institut and Shakespeare Theatre Company for the DC International Theatre Festival, STC Artistic Producer Drew Lichtenberg will interview Helgard Haug and Maria Goyanes on how theater companies today are embracing “Internationalism, Innovation, and Independence,” as well as Rimini Protokoll’s new work, ALL RIGHT GOOD NIGHT. In a world where reality itself is increasingly difficult to understand, how can new forms, new collaborations, and new stories provide new perspectives?
On September 30, as part of the festival, theater professionals from the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area will be invited to a special industry brunch with Helgard at the Goethe-Institut.
DECEMBER 2025
ho ho ho ha ha ha ha
By Julia Masli
Co-directed by Julia Masli and Kim Noble
November 12 – December 21, 2025
Location: Woolly Mammoth
This holiday season, Julia Masli–an Estonian-born, London-based clown–returns to Woolly with a festive edition of her hit, award-winning show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, now titled ho ho ho ha ha ha ha. Fresh off a global tour—with stops in New York City (at The Public), and previously in Edinburgh, London, and Melbourne—Masli invites audiences to bring their holiday problems to the stage for a hilarious and surprising solution. A completely different show every night, ho ho ho ha ha ha ha is a production like no other.
hahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahaha hihihi hahahahahahahaha HO HO HO hahahhahahaha hehe hahahahahahahahahaha
MARCH 2026
The Royal Shakespeare Company and Neal Street Productions
Present
Maggie O’Farrell’s
Hamnet
Adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti
Directed by Erica Whyman
March 17 – April 12, 2026
Location: Shakespeare Theatre Company, Harman Hall
When the plague steals 11-year-old Hamnet from his loving parents, Agnes and William, they must each confront their loss alone. And yet, out of the greatest suffering, something of extraordinary wonder is born. Experience the U.S. premiere of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “sweeping and sentimental” (The Guardian) stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel, adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi) and directed by Erica Whyman.
JUNE 2026
Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen
By Marcelo Dos Santos
Directed by Matthew Xia
June 4 – July 5, 2026
Location: Studio Theatre, Mead Theatre
After years of swiping, a permanently single, professionally neurotic stand-up finally meets Mr. Right – and then does everything wrong. Strap in for a delightfully dark journey through self-awareness and self-sabotage as he decides whether love is worth the price of a killer punchline. This darkly comedic one-man show delves into the anxieties of modern life with razor-sharp wit, tackling everything from the fear of intimacy to the terror of vulnerability.
SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY
For nearly 40 years, the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company has been recognized as the nation’s premier classical theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Simon Godwin and Executive Director Angela Lee Gieras, STC tells vital stories in audacious forms, stories that are Shakespearean in the deepest sense, even if they are not written by Shakespeare. We stage epic stories in exhilarating style.
STUDIO THEATRE
Studio Theatre is a longstanding Washington cultural institution dedicated to the production of contemporary theater. Over more than 40 years and 350 productions, the theater has grown from a company that produced in a single rented theater to one that owns a multi-venue complex stretching half a city block, but has stayed committed to its core distinguishing characteristics: deliberately intimate spaces; excellence in acting and design; and seasons that feature many of the most significant playwrights of our time. Studio is a values-focused organization that pursues artistry and inclusion, and brings characteristic thoughtfulness and daring to our efforts, onstage and off. The theater serves nearly 75,000 people each year, including more than 1,000 youth and young adults through community engagement initiatives. Founded in 1978, the quality of Studio’s work has been recognized by sustained community support, as well as 78 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in professional theater.
WOOLLY MAMMOTH THEATRE COMPANY
The Tony Award®-winning Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is a non-profit company which creates badass theater that highlights the stunning, challenging, and tremendous complexity of our world. For over 40 years, Woolly has maintained a high standard of artistic rigor while simultaneously daring to take risks, innovate, and push beyond perceived boundaries. One of the few remaining theaters in the country to maintain a company of artists, Woolly serves an essential research and development role within the American theater. Plays premiered here have gone on to productions at hundreds of theaters all over the world and have had lasting impacts on the field. Currently co-led by Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and Managing Director Kimberly E. Douglas, Woolly is located in Washington, DC, equidistant from the Capitol and the White House. This unique location influences Woolly’s investment in actively working towards an equitable, participatory, and creative democracy.
