DoSEL Satellite Showcase Programme and Conference on Drama in Smaller European Languages taking place in Ljubljana

Last year, an international project Drama of Smaller European Languages (DoSEL) was launched with the participation of the Estonian Theatre Agency, which focuses on translating and developing plays written in smaller European languages. On October 2, 2025, an international conference will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as part of the project, focusing on the position of small languages in the European theatre scene and the role of translation and translators in promoting drama. The conference will be followed by a guest performance in Basque by the Arriaga Theatre from Bilbao, “MOTO – Membra Jesu Nostri,” which is part of the satellite program of the DoSEL showcase held in spring 2025.

Taking place at the Cultural and Congress Centre Cankarjev dom, the first discussion of the conference will tackle the position of smaller European languages in the contemporary European theatre sector. The discussion will be moderated by the Slovene researcher and theatre critic Mr Jakob Ribič. The panellists include Mr Victor Muñoz, Head of Authors Relations at Sala Beckett in Barcelona, Ms Zala Dobovšek, PhD, dramaturg and selector at the Week of Slovenian Drama festival, Ms Laura Gardes, ETC Network and Project Manager, and Mr Darko Lukić, PhD, theatre scholar and cultural theorist based in Berlin.

The second discussion, which will be moderated by the Slovenian dramaturg and translator Ms Barbara Skubic, will explore the role of translation and translators in promoting drama in smaller European languages. The panellists include Ms Julija Potrč Šavli, a Slovenian drama translator, Mr Dino Pešut, author and dramaturg at the Croatian National Theatre Zagreb, Mr Ivan Dodovski, PhD, Macedonian contemporary drama scholar and writer, President of the Eurodram network, and Mr Gašper Troha, PhD, researcher and Director of the Slovene Theatre Institute.

In the evening of October 2nd, a major guest performance titled MOTO – Membra Jesu Nostri will be presented at the Linhart Hall of Cankarjev dom, produced by the Arriaga Theatre from Bilbao. The performance is based on the music by Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707): Membra Jesu Nostri, presented by the soloists, choir, and instrumental ensemble Conductus Ensemble, with musical director Andoni Sierra. The performance is directed by Lucía Astigarraga, with Eneko Sagardoy as the author of the text and main actor. As Nino Dentici wrote for El Correo, the performance is “a good way to publicize rarely performed baroque works and to dramatize the work, giving it entertaining modernity.”

As part the events, all DoSEL project partners and attending associated partners will gather to Ljubljana to prepare the upcoming activities of the partnership. The next DoSEL International Showcase of performances based on drama works written in smaller European languages will take place in Valletta, Malta, in April 2026, hosted by the National Agency for the Performing Arts Malta and including one performance from Estonia. Next year, the DoSEL partnership will launch 24 first-time translations of selected contemporary drama works written in smaller European languages. Book publications will be available in fall 2026.

The goal of DoSEL is to increase the international recognition and accessibility of dramatic works originally written in smaller European languages and to encourage their more frequent staging. The project is a collaboration between eight European cultural organizations, including the National Agency for the Performing Arts from Malta, the Arriaga Theatre and Sala Beckett from Spain, the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, the Estonian Theatre Agency, the National Theatre of Kosovo, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre from Bulgaria, and the Prešeren Theatre from Slovenia.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

Photo from the performance MOTO – Membra Jesu Nostri by Arriaga Theatre. Photo by E. Moreno Esquibel