GrAFiTi Fluid Borders Theatre Festival
From 30 June to 4 July 2026, theatre groups from universities across Europe came together in Saarbrücken, Germany to perform their work in seven different European languages
The Festival venues: Saarbrücken city and Saarland University campus
1 - 2 July: Saarbrücken City:
Theater im Viertel (TiV)
Schlosskellertheater
30 June, 3 - 4 July:
Saarland University, Saarbrücken Campus
Thank you!
Thank you to all those who helped to make the festival a success:
To everyone who provided help & support in Saarbrücken - from UdS & HBK:
Janett Reinstädler, Romanistik, UdS
Diego Núñez, Jorge Calvimontes & Polina Stadnikova from Los Mutantes
Atl Marsch & Nikos Engonopoulos from Teatro Efimero
Aaron Zell, Amelie Seyfried, Max Meiser, Michelle Falk & Nikolai Käfer from Thunis
Julia Neumann at the Mensa
Anne Müller-Leist, Katrin Kurtz & Monika Zeising-Di Rocco for helping us with reserving rooms at UdS
AStA at UdS for providing us with benches
The staff of the UdS Food Truck at Französischer Platz
Hannes Rabenstein from HBK
To those who came from Trier to provide support with catering and organisation:
Amanda Boyce
Céline Horn-Thiel
David Schambach
To the theatres in Saarbrücken who welcomed & supported our performing groups:
Theater im Viertel:
Jutta Roth
Bernd Hassel
Florian Layes
Theater im Schlosskeller:
Mareike Molter
Mirko Wiesen
Vanessa John
For designing two brilliant posters for the festival:
Alireza Nesaei
Anna Pawlik-Łatka
To Café Kosmos in Saarbrücken for providing a festival base for us during our city days:
Samu Schmelzer
Lili
Sarah
To everyone who offered accommodation to the visiting groups:
Atl Marsch
Birgit Bellmann
Diego Núñez
Isa Anzaldo
Nele's WG
Nikolai's WG
Thank you once again to the theatre groups who made the journey to Saarbrücken, & the groups based in Saarbrücken, whose performances all made the festival an artistic success
And thank you to those who donated to our Crowdfunder:
https://www.goodcrowd.org/grafiti-student-theatre-festival-saarbruecken
Tuesday, 30 JUNE 2026: EVENING
Campus, Saarland University
30.06: 17:30
30.06: 18:30
THUNIS
(SAARBRÜCKEN)
Excerpts from:
DRAUẞEN VOR DER TÜR
(drama by Wolfgang Borchert)
CARMILLA
(musical by Friedhelm & Ulrike Schneidewind)
German | 30 minutes |
Theatersaal, Uni-Mensa
30.06: 19:00
THUNIS IMPRO GROUP
An improvisation workshop where everyone is invited
to take part, but can also observe
German | 1 hour |
Theatersaal, Uni-Mensa
30.06: 20:15
COMPAGNIE
LE CYGNE ARDENT
(METZ)
LA RÉVOLTE DES
PETITES CUILLÉRES
French | 1 hour |
Open Air, Saarbrücken University Campus
Green Space next to Building B4 1 (Law Faculty/Jura)
For route from Mensa/Theatersaal to Green Space (10 mins walk),
see: https://tinyurl.com/2e22nnpv
Wednesday, 1 JULY 2026
Saarbrücken City
01.07: 11:00
THEATRE JAM & BRUNCH
A chance for the festival artists to meet and exchange over food & dialogue, and play theatre games
Many Languages | Open |
Café Kosmos,
Futterstraße 4, 66111 Saarbrücken
01.07: 16:15
ZUZA KURKO &
KUBA PAWELCZAK
(LONDON)
I HAVE BEEN A MULTITUDE OF SHAPES
BEFORE I ASSUMED A CONSISTENT FORM
English & Polish might be spoken | 30 minutes |
Theater im Viertel (TiV)
01.07: 18:00
LE PONT
(Saarbrücken)
LE MÉDECIN MALGRÉ LUI
by Molière
French | 30 mins |
Theater im Viertel (TiV)
01.07: 19:30
TURLg
(LIÉGE)
LA NUIT, ON NE DORT PAS, ON RÊVE
French | 90 minutes |
Saarbrücker Schloss: Schlosskeller
01.07: 21:30
A fine art exhibition in collaboration with the HBK Saar
(Art School Saarland),
curated by Max Meiser & Richard Dannenberg
2 hours |
Mainzer Str. 33, Saarbrücken
Thursday, 2 JULY 2026
Saarbrücken City
02.07: 10:00
02.07: 14:00
ZWISCHENRÄUME
(2 Plays)
In nova by Guido Hoenig
The Gap by Sofia Miller, Nataliia Rozumovych, Caterina Spinelli, Unurjavkhian Tuvshinbayar & Erin Yang
German | 45 minutes |
Theater im Viertel (TiV)
02.07: 18:00
DEVOLUTION
(LONDON,
ENGLAND/TRIER,GERMANY
/OPOLE, POLAND)
A PERFECT CHAOS
English & other languages |
50 mins |
Theater im Viertel (TiV)
02.07: 20:00
MAD, WHO? THEATRE
(LONDON)
SUB TITLES OVER
Catalan | 55 minutes |
Theater im Viertel (TiV)
02.07: 21:15
Loïc Sp & Cédric
AFRODANCE TRIER
(GERMANY)
ENERGIE DES LÖWEN
Dance | 30 mins |
Theater im Viertel (TiV)
02.07: 22:00
SOCIAL
A mid-festival social
Fields behind the Bismarckbrücke
Friday, 3 JULY 2026
Campus, Saarland University
(Saarbrücken)
03.07: 10:00
A workshop by Zuza Kurko
3 hours |
Musiksaal (1st floor, Building C5 1)
Campus of the Saarland University (UdS)
03.07: 14:00
YOUNG OFFENDERS (Trier)
We regret that the Young Offenders performance has had to be cancelled due to illness
ODE TO MY FAMILY
German | 20 minutes |
Theatersaal (Mensa Building, UdS))
03.07: 16:00
TARTU STUDENT THEATRE GROUP
(TARTU, ESTONIA))
KURADI LOOD
(THE DEVIL'S STORIES)
Estonian | 50 mins |
Open Air, Saarbrücken University Campus
Green Space next to Building B4 1 (Law Faculty/Jura)
For route from Mensa/Theatersaal to Green Space (10 mins walk), see:
https://tinyurl.com/2e22nnpv
03.07: 19:00
03.07: 21:30
Saturday, 4 JULY 2026
(Campus, Saarland University)
04.07: 10:00
A workshop by Kuba Pawelzcak,
with an option to share the results
afterwards/later in the day
3 hours |
OPEN AIR, CAMPUS SAARBRÜCKEN
Green Space next to Building B4 1 (Law Faculty/Jura)
04.07: 13:30
04.07: 16:00
04.07: 18:45
TEATRO EFIMERO (Saarbrücken)
DESARRAIGO
(Uprooting)
Spanish | 50 minutes |
Theatersaal (Mensa Building, UdS)
04.07: 21:30
04.07: ca. 23:30
The Performing Groups - 1
Afrodance Trier: Loïc Sp & Cédric
Energie des Löwen (Afrofusion)
This vibrant Afrofusion dance performance combines modern and traditional styles. The Lion represents the spirit of strength, courage and determination.
BelvalExpress (Uni Luxemburg):
Fine-. There's a fine line between just functioning and actually being well (English)
Compagnie Le Cygne Ardent (Uni Metz, France):
La révolte des petites cuillères. A play about memory and family (French)
Devolution (London/Poland): A Perfect Chaos (English & more)
Come and watch this audio-visual performance experiment, as Richard Dannenberg & Kuba Pawelczak dissect and explore different forms of chaos through sound, word and movement.
The Performing Groups - 2
Kreuz & Quer (Uni Trier):
Die Arche ist voll!
In an era of climate anxiety and political tensions, rising sea levels suddenly leave half of Europe submerged. In Trier, too, refugees are queuing outside the "Ark Asylum Office," pleading for admission (German)
Le Pont (University of the Saarland/Germany)
Le médecin malgré lui (Molière)
Satirical farce about seventeenth-century French medicine and marriage (French)
Los Mutantes (Uni des Saarlandes/Germany):
Laberinto (Labyrinth). Five stories of deception, desire and betrayal, and in the end the tantalizing question: "Do we even want to leave this labyrinth?" (Spanish with English & German subtitles)
The Performing Groups - 3
Mad, Who? Theatre (Essex, UK/Katalan):
Sub Titles Over. A multilingual one-woman show exploring censorship, political activism, freedom of expression set against the backdrop of the Catalan referendum for independence in 2017. (Catalan with English subtitles)
Students of the MA Programme “Theatre Studies & Interculturality” (Uni Luxembourg):
Zwischenräume. Three stories which engage with human relationships and the challenges of intercultural communication. (German)
Tartu Student Theatre (Tartu, Estonia):
Kuradi Lood (The Devil’s Stories). A visually expressive reinterpretation of Estonian folk narratives through a synthesis of physical theatre, clowning, and elements inspired by Japanese Kabuki. (Estonian)
Teatro Efimero (Uni des Saarlandes /Germany):
Desarraigo (Uprooting) by Atl Marsch. A play exploring into the minds of those who live between two worlds (Spanish)
(Subtitles in German and English)
The Performing Groups - 4
Thunis (Uni des Saarlandes /Germany):
Carmilla by Friedhelm & Ulrike Schneidewind (musical excerpt); Draußen vor der Tür von Wolfgang Borchert (excerpt) (German)
TURLg (Théâtre Universitaire Royal de Liège/Belgien):
La nuit, on ne dort pas, on rêve. What if the theatre became the space where our dreams take shape? (French)
Young Offenders (Trier/Germany):
Ode to my Family. Theatre fragment about multilingualism and interculturality (German)
Zuza Kurko & Kuba Pawelczak: (London/Poland):
I have been a multitude of shapes, before I assumed a consistent form.
Exploring the human urge to create (a movement-based piece, English & Polish might be spoken at times)
GrAFiTi Theatre Festival
What started in a central European space has grown to include many other nationalities throughout and beyond Europe. While it began as a student festival, GrAFiTi is not exclusively for students: over the years many artists from different backgrounds have participated in the festivals. We are essentially a mixture of student, amateur, academic and fringe (freie Szene) theatre initiatives. We pride ourselves on being in between and within all these areas. The festival rotates between multiple cities, and this year it will be taking place where it originated - in Saarbrücken: in the city and at the student campus.
