World Theatre Day
Every year on 27 March, the ITI publishes a message from a theatre figure to mark World Theatre Day.
World Theatre Day is a time to honour and celebrate theatre: across the globe, a wide range of events and activities put the performing arts in the spotlight. World Theatre Day was first established in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute. The date marks the opening day of the ITI Festival ‘Theatre of Nations’ in Paris. Each year, the International Theatre Institute selects a theatre figure to author a message addressing the social significance and impact of the art of theatre.
The message for WORLD THEATRE DAY 2026 comes from actor and artistic director of the theatre department of the Biennale di Venezia, Willem Dafoe:
"In a world that seems to be becoming more divided, controlling and violent, it is our job as theatre makers to prevent theatre from degenerating into a purely commercial enterprise devoted to entertainment as a distraction, or from ending up as a dried-up, institutionalised guardian of tradition. Instead, it is our task to promote the strengths of theatre – its ability to connect people, groups and cultures, and above all, to raise objections against the course of events... Great theatre challenges our thinking and encourages us to imagine what we are striving for..."
Other ambassadors since 1962
The message for the first WORLD THEATRE DAY was written by Jean Cocteau, and ambassadors in subsequent years included Arthur Miller, Helene Weigel, Peter Brook, Dmitri Shostakovich, Wole Soyinka, Vaclav Havel, Tankred Dorst, Ariane Mnouchkine, Victor Rascon Banda, Robert Lepage, Augusto Boal, John Malkovich, Dario Fo, Brett Bailey, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Anatoli Vasilyev, Isabelle Huppert, Simon McBurney, Theodoros Terzopoulos and Jon Fosse.
Find all messages for World Theatre Day here.