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New Plays from Europe Theatre Biennale "New Plays from Europe" / Neue Stücke aus Europa is a large-scale international festival dedicated exclusively to productions of contemporary plays in their original languages.[1] They are presented with a simultaneous translation into German. The focus is on authors and texts.
The festival program aims to provide a reflection of the most pressing topics facing Europe: conflicting national characteristics and idiosyncrasies, diverse interpretations of European identity as well as questions of isolation and self-assertion. Being exposed to different views on familiar occurrences and gaining new perspectives on the concept of European identity ideally lead to an improved understanding of the cultural differences unique to each European country. This festival aspires to pave the way towards a united, multifaceted and heterogeneous European cultural area – challenging, critical and tolerant. Expectations are disrupted and viewing habits are challenged: it is a “continuous attack against stereotyped thinking” as Christine Wahl wrote in the magazine Theatre Heute.[2]