Europa

Theatre

28.8.-31.8.2026

Jahrhunderthalle Bochum

A contemporary Greek tragedy

Violence rarely ends with the moment of its eruption. In Europa, Krzysztof Warlikowski explores how trauma festers across generations – settling into families, memories and silences, and shaping lives long after the original catastrophe has passed. Based on Wajdi Mouawad’s play Europa’s Pledge, it unfolds as a contemporary tragedy shaped by fractured remembrance. At its centre stands Europa, a woman haunted by a massacre she witnessed as a child – carried out by her own people. She summons her daughters, who struggle to speak, remember, and connect, bound to a past they did not experience, yet cannot escape. The story emerges in fragments: names of atrocities, some real, some invented, blur fact and fiction, confronting the audience with repression and the instability of history. Europa exposes violence, guilt and the fragile act of narration itself. Playing with gender roles and expectations of womanhood, it reveals how bodies and voices become carriers of memory. In a time marked by inherited fears and unresolved conflicts, the personal becomes political and the piece resonates as a parable of our present.

Produced by Nowy Teatr, Warsaw. Coproduced by Théâtre de Liège.

Europa – The shadow that writes

A performance by Wajdi Mouawad

Before Krzysztof Warlikowski’s staging of Europa on 30 August, Wajdi Mouawad presents a one-time performance that opens the constellation of questions surrounding the play.

Developed from his lectures at the Collège de France in Paris, where he held the chair The Invention of Europe through Languages and Cultures, and created in partnership with the French Ministry of Culture, Mouawad reflects on writing as a way of confronting history, tragedy and the violence of our time. Moving between literature, philosophy and personal testimony, he asks what it means to see, to meet, to love – and to write – in a Europe marked by memory and conflict.

Rather than an introduction or explanation, this singular performance offers an encounter with the thought that accompanies Mouawad’s writing, providing a unique perspective before experiencing Europa.

Tickets can be purchased in our webshop.

> Information for visitors

Portrait of Wajdi Mouawad — © Patrick Imbert, Collège de France

Festival Stories

Europa – a parable of our time

“When I arrive at Nowy Teatr an hour before the performance, the foyer is already full […] The performances have been sold out for weeks. Whatever the mixed or even controversial responses may have been, they have not deterred audiences. If anything, they seem to have sharpened curiosity.“ In February 2026, Ruhrtriennale dramaturge Teresa Bernauer travelled to Nowy Teatr in Warsaw to see Europa and speak with the artistic team. In our Festival Stories, she shares her impressions.

A person sits at a table speaking into a smartphone mounted on a tripod, hands raised. Behind them, a large-scale video projection shows the same person. — © Magda Hueckel

Cast

Based on 'Europa's Pledge (Le Serment d'Europe) by
- Wajdi Mouawad
Adaption
- Krzysztof Warlikowski,
- Piotr Gruszczyński
Text Translation
- Jacek Poniedziałek
Direction
- Krzysztof Warlikowski
Set Design, Costume
- Małgorzata Szczęśniak
Lighting Design
- Felice Ross
Dramaturgy
- Piotr Gruszczyński,
- Anna Lewandowska,
- Carolin Losch
Music
- Paweł Mykietyn
Choreography
- Claude Bardouil
Video
- Kamil Polak
Make-up
- Monika Kaleta
With
- Claude Bardouil,
- Andrzej Chyra,
- Magdalena Cielecka,
- Bartosz Gelner,
- Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik,
- Maja Ostaszewska,
- Magdalena Popławska
German Translation
- Andreas Volk
English Translation
- Artur Zapałowski

Supporters Ruhrtriennale

With support of the Polish Institute Düsseldorf

RuhrBühnen*Spezial

The performance of Europa on 31 August 2026 is part of the RuhrBühnen*Spezial series. A new stage, a new theatre highlight every month – and a ticket price of just €15: That's the RuhrBühnen*Spezial. Behind the offer is the RuhrBühnen network, an association of eleven theatres and two festivals from the Ruhr metropolis. RuhrBühnen*Spezial tickets can be booked in our webshop.