About

Activities and support

The Prospero New European Wave (Prospero NEW) platform focuses on the support of well-established national artists step up their carrier and reach international attention. Each of the next four years, the partners will select 40 artists and their project to get to grow internationally, benefitting from the large Prospero consortium.

More specifically, partners will implement a series of activities specifically designed to support the artists at different stages of their creative journeys:

Touring Support – “Prospero NEW” Label

Prospero NEW will support the touring of projects of artists selected. Up to 100 selected artists with receive the “Prospero NEW” label, enabling platform members to apply for funding to host them with the financial backing of the platform. This support facilitates access to new international audiences and increases the visibility of emerging talents.

Coproduction

Each of the 19 platform members will coproduce one project by an emerging artist (distinct from those selected for touring) during the project period. Every coproduction will include the participation of at least two other platform members.

Selected projects benefit from financial, technical, and artistic support, helping to scale up productions and expand their European reach.

Research Residency

These research residencies provide time, space, and funding for emerging artists to explore, research, or develop a project. Artists are given a dedicated space for creation or methodological research and are encouraged to connect with the local artistic teams and communities.

Mentoring Programme

Each year, the platform will organize a mentoring programme. These 10 mentoring sessions will be held during high-visibility moments and are carefully curated by the hosting platform member to ensure relevance and close guidance.

Visibility and Dissemination

Prospero NEW selected artists will benefit from enhanced media coverage and online visibility, supported by the platform Prospero.Tv (www.prospero-theatre.tv) and consortium’s communication teams. Many more will be featured through online campaigns designed to build a unified brand around the Prospero NEW label.

Networking Opportunities

The Prospero platform provides continuous opportunities for networking and collaboration. Artists benefit from invitations to the platform’s Annual Events, where they can present their work and participate in artistic meetings. These events provide access to a European network of 19 prominent theatres and festivals, and opportunities to connect with programmers, producers, and peers. All selected artists are invited to engage actively with the network.

Research

Prospero NEW also conducts research into key sectoral themes such as sustainability, diversity, and working conditions in the performing arts. These studies aim to foster dialogue between artistic and scientific communities, explore current challenges, and identify future models for the performing arts sector.

Objectives of the project

The ‘Prospero New European Wave’ (Prospero NEW) Platform project builds on the legacy of the Prospero network; a grouping of theatres created in 2006 to identify and support promising theatre directors and authors in European venues. Throughout time, the composition of the Prospero network and the nature of its activities evolved, but the theatre’s willingness to nurture artistic dialogue across borders, identify and supported talented theatre artists and Europeanize activities remained. After implementing several projects, the network is now willing to go a step further and structure itself as the European theatre platform. This will enable the new consortium to scale up its ability to identify talented theatre artists from all over Europe, diversify the forms of support proposed as well as its geographical reach.

The Platform will follow 5 objectives:

  1. Identify Talented Emerging Artists from all over Europe – Develop a relevant selection system to effectively identify and recognize emerging artists, building on the Member’s respective experience, knowledge, intuition, quality, and geographical diversity.
  2. Support Artistic Development at the European level – Provide support to identified emerging artists, enabling them to expand and develop their artistic activities according to their needs beyond their national borders, on the European level and worldwide.
  3. Establish a Dynamic Artistic Vision – Over time, develop a distinct label that reflects a shared and dynamic artistic vision of European theatre, showcasing the uniqueness and diversity of European artistic expression to theatre audiences existing and new (offline or online).
  4. Address Contemporary Challenges – Align with today’s challenges by implementing an ambitious environmental strategy, promoting diversity, fair working conditions and fostering the digital shift of the sector.
  5. Ensure Long-Term Viability – Design and implement development measures and strategies that ensure the long-term viability of the theatre Platform, allowing it to continue its mission beyond the initial four years and adapt to evolving needs.

The History of Prospero

As the European Union grew, especially from an economic point of view, with a common economic and monetary policy, it built upon free movement of goods, persons, services and capital among Member States. Meanwhile, a sort of “movement of culture” was – and still is – looked at with a certain form of ignorance about the creative strengths and practices, the fertile similarities and differences between European countries that create a sense of “European way of life”, highly popular in political discourses.

Initiated in 2006, Prospero has evolved over four main periods (2008-2012, 2014-2017, 2019-2020, 2020-2025). While rethinking its scope, its mission remains: develop European creation by promoting the necessary changes in theatre, participate in the construction of an artistic and cultural Europe, and fight for shared democratic values.

The creation of a network of European theatres appeared to be an obvious project just waiting to happen for the five founders:

  • François Le Pillouer at Théâtre National de Bretagne (France),
  • Serge Rangoni at the Théâtre de Liège (Belgium),
  • Pietro Valenti at Emilia Romagna Teatro (Italy),
  • Thomas Ostermeier and Tobias Veit previously head of artistic production and now managing director at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz (Germany)

Its implementation, however, required the will and non-stop commitment of these institutions to finally make this shared structure a reality where different European partners could share what was happening elsewhere in the Union, and work to reach a wider international audience.

The network quickly welcomed Centro Cultural de Belém (Portugal) and Tampereen Yliopisto (Finland). It wished to be more than a network: to become an ever-evolving project in constant dialogue with European authorities. It benefitted from adjacent touring program, proper knowledge, multi-cultural understanding, international artistic collaborations and awareness of new ways of interpreting, addressing and questioning the world. Europe is undoubtedly made of a vast array of languages, aesthetics, cultures and stories, many of which sharing common roots, pasts and paths. This made the artistic managers of the six partners passionate about this vision of creating a project of cultural cooperation. “In contrast to the arguments of ultra-liberalism, we wanted to define together a democratic, peaceful, social, artistic, and cultural Europe”, claimed François Le Pillouer recalling this period. “Six cities, one project, shared theatre” was the motto then chosen by Prospero’s founding members.

And so, it began. In 2008, The following three priorities: the development of European creation, the establishment of European theoretical research, and the European training of young actors. Prospero, after initial political reluctance, could smoothly involve artists and their creative worlds, but “had to facilitate exchanges between drama schools in countries that had distinct practices and no common language”, stated Le Pillouer. For four years (2008-2012), this had been the program put into action, thanks to the help of the Culture Programme 2007-2013 of the EU and the involvement of artists like Thomas Ostermeier, Cilla Back, Ivo van Hove, Pippo Delbono, Falk Richter and Anouk Van Dijk, Galin Stoev, Teatro Praga, and Krysztof Warlikowski.

In its second period (2014-2017), Prospero renewed a partnership of six theatres: four of the founders (Rennes, Liège, Berlin, and Modena), Göteborgs City Theater (Sweden) and Croatian National Theatre (Croatia) with the World Festival in Zagreb. It built on the experience of the first Prospero project, while reimagining the scope of its missions.

If the contribution to the strengthening of a European citizenship and intercultural dialogue were already at heart, for this renewed Prospero edition, the partners agreed on “identifying, supporting and accompanying eight large-scale creations” that would tour throughout Europe – totalling 190 performances across the six partner cities. The artists selected by Prospero were some of the most creative theatre-makers of the time, as a broad portrait of the various aesthetics and approaches that were nurtured in European theatre: Katie Mitchell (The Forbidden Zone), Mattias Andersson (The Misfits), Anne-Cécile Vandalem (Tristesses), Bobo Jelcic (Na Kraju Tjedna), Milo Rau (Compassion. L’Histoire de la Mitraillette), Angélica Liddell (You are my Destiny (Lo Stupro di Lucrezia)), etc.

Prospero 2014-2017 also aimed to address the emergence of young actors. Each year, Prospero invited about 60 young actors-to-be from national schools and training institutions to come and participated in FINDPlus (Festival International New Drama), an event organised by the Schaubühne Berlin.

When the third Prospero (2019-2020) launched, it also wished to have a strong stand against the rise of populism on European soil. While the initial goal to address a continental identity of the EU embracing the different specificities and idiosyncrasies was structural from the very beginning, it now felt jeopardised by extremism and dividing social and political movements. This concern was at the very core of the project, coordinated by the Théâtre de Liège. Once again, historic members welcomed new ones: Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe (France), Teatro São Luiz (Portugal), Teatr Powszechny (Poland) and Teatros del Canal (Spain) joined a consortium of nine European theatres and one media ARTE. A new batch of artists took part in this construction process, while investigating the variety of artistic discourses and the aim to reach new audiences.

The fourth Prospero (2020 – 2025) project was called “PROSPERO – EXTENDED THEATRE” and benefited from the Creative Europe Program 2021-2027. In this age of ubiquitous digital communication, Prospero had to dig deep into subjects, practices, formats, and territories that associated an online strategy with local policies. The new consortium included: Théâtre de Liège, Schaubühne Berlin, Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione, Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe, São Luiz Teatro Municipal, Teatr Powszechny, Göteborgs Stadsteater, Croatian National Theatre, Teatros del Canal, and ARTE. Together, they offered young or confirmed artists to be present at the same time on great European stages and on the internet. The objective was to expand access to performances to professionals, students, and the public through digital means. To this end, they developed Prospero.tv, a recording of performance platform. They worked with nine stand-out European directors: Caroline Guiela Nguyen (FRATERNITE, conte fantastique and KINDHEITSARCHIVE), Krystian Lupa (Imagine), Dead Centre (The Silence), Bobo Jelčić (Sorry), Marco Martins (Pendulum and Blooming), Aurore Fattier (Hedda), Fabio Condemi (Calderón), Yael Ronen (Bucket List), and Angelica Liddell (DÄMON – El Funeral de Bergman).

For 15 years, Prospero has adapted to new circumstances, needs, barriers, and opportunities as the border became less present, but the circulation of performances remained complex. This international scale-up is the new objective of the fifth version of Prospero: Prospero NEW WAVES (2025–2028), welcoming 19 partners from 18 countries co-funded by the EU.

For the past – and, we hope, the next – 15 years, the vision remains: a dynamic, democratic, and cultural Europe, promoting freedom, diversity, and equality.

PROSPERO.TV

Prospero.tv is an innovative digital platform dedicated to contemporary European theatre. Initially launched as part of the Prospero – Extended Theatre project (2020–2024), the platform now enters a new chapter under the banner of Prospero – New European Waves, continuing its mission to rethink and expand the reach of theatre in the digital age.

A Theatre Platform Born from Innovation

The global pandemic and successive lockdowns brought urgent questions to the surface:

  • What is the role of theatre in a digital world?
  • Can theatrical performance exist without physical presence?
  • Can online streaming enrich the theatrical experience and attract new audiences?

In response to these questions, Prospero.tv was crafted as a pioneering European collaboration, bringing together major theatres and ARTE as a media partner, to produce and film new theatrical works, develop a shared streaming platform, and foster audience development through digital outreach.

Today, Prospero – New European Waves reaffirms the importance of transnational cooperation, artistic innovation, and access to theatre for all, both on stage and online. The platform remains a vital tool for broadcasting shows, reaching audiences across Europe and promoting cultural diversity and dialogue.

What You’ll Find on the Platform

Prospero.tv offers access to a rich archive of performances and new releases, including:

  • Full-length play recordings produced during the Extended Theatre project and their teasers
  • Artist interviews and behind-the-scenes content
  • Short documentaries about the creative and rehearsal processes
  • New relevant productions from the New European Waves initiative

The recorded plays from the initial project remain accessible and include acclaimed productions such as:

  • Fraternité, Conte fantastique – by Caroline Guiela Nguyen
  • Imagine – directed by Krystian Lupa
  • The Silence – directed by Dead Centre
  • Sorry – directed by Bobo Jelčić
  • Hedda – directed by Aurore Fattier
  • Calderón – directed by Fabio Condemi
  • Dämon – Bergman’s Funeral – directed by Angelica Liddell

… and many more to come

These works represent a landmark moment in European theatre collaboration, and their availability online continues to offer new ways of experiencing theatre.

Disclaimers

This platform was initially co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme under Prospero – Extended Theatre (2020–2024).

The views expressed here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission or the EACEA Agency.

Go to the platform : https://www.prospero-theatre.tv/