International Theatre Day

Let's celebrate World Theatre Day with a minute of silence for all the artists who fell in senseless wars, for bombed-out theatres, and for the destroyed cultural values ​​that took centuries to develop.

World Theatre Day has been celebrated annually on 27 March since 1962. It is preceded by World Theatre Day for Children and Youth, which falls on 20 March, and World Puppetry Day, which falls on 21 March. The celebrations are initiated by international non-governmental theatre organisations affiliated with UNESCO, which prepare messages for these theatre holidays every year. Messages for these days are formulated each year by prominent figures in the world theatre community.

This year, Czech puppet theatre received significant recognition, as Nina Malíková, a Czech dramaturg, editor, and puppet theatre expert, was chosen by the foreign professional community as the author of the message for World Puppetry Day.

The message for World Theatre for Children and Youth was prepared by the president of ASSITEJ International and Australian theatre artist Sue Giles, and children and teenagers from Ukraine and Iran also added their messages underlining the importance of theatre.

The Czech ITI Center has decided to replace this year's traditional message for World Theatre Day with this appeal: Let's celebrate World Theatre Day with a minute of silence for all the artists who fell in senseless war conflicts, for bombed-out theatres, and for the destroyed cultural values ​​that were created over centuries.