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– the role of theatre in rising to the challenges of today's world –

World Theatre Day, celebrated annually on 27 March since 1962, offers theatre goers, the global theatre community as well as the public in general, the opportunity to pause and reflect on a simple but essential question of what role theatre continues to play in our societies today.

The celebration was inaugurated by the International Theatre Institute (ITI), which continues to co-ordinate events associated with the day but with the patronage of UNESCO. Included as its centrepiece is the World Theatre Day International Message, the delivery of which is delegated, at the invitation of ITI, to a figure of world stature, who shares his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace. The message is circulated widely, as well as being translated into different languages. It is read before performances at theatres all around the world, printed in newspapers, and shared on radio, television and through social media.

For the inaugural World Theatre Day in 1962, the Message was delivered by French writer and avant-garde artist, Jean Cocteau. He used the occasion to express the wish that "Nations, thanks to these World Theatre Days, will at last become aware of each other’s treasures, and will work together in the high enterprise of peace."

Among the stated goals of World Theatre Day are to promote the art form across the world; to make people aware of the value of the art form; to enable theatre communities to promote their work on a broad scale so that opinion leaders are aware of the value of these forms and support them. It is also celebrated and observed for the purpose to enjoying the art form for its own sake.

In her own World Theatre Day Message, in 2021, actress Helen Mirren remarked that "human beings have told each other stories for as long as they have been on the planet. The beautiful culture of theatre will live for as long as we stay here." Records of theatre, as an art form, date back at least to ancient Greece. Indeed, according to Days of the Year website, the term, 'theatre', gets its roots from an ancient Greek word that means 'a place for seeing'.

Perhaps this is why theatre has endured across centuries and cultures: not because it provides answers, but because it creates the conditions for reflection — a place where societies can examine themselves, where responsibilities can be questioned, and where imagination can open new possibilities for the future. – CHEN Zhongwen, Director General, International Theatre Institute

In 2026, the task of delivering the Message falls to actor, William Dafoe. Although, as he says of himself, that he is principally known as a film actor, his roots are deeply in the theatre. He was a member of the Wooster Group from 1977-2003 creating and performing original pieces at The Performing Garage in New York City and touring throughout the world.

Often the rule was if there were more performers than public we could choose to cancel. But we never did. … It just made me realize how no matter how few people, the audience as witness gave the theatre its meaning and life. … 

Shared experience in real time of an act of creation, that may be scored and designed but is always different, is certainly the obvious strength of the theatre. Socially, politically, theatre has never been so important and vital to our understanding of ourselves and the world. … 

In a world that seems to get more divisive, controlling and violent, our challenge as theatre makers is to avoid the corruption of theatre solely as a commercial enterprise dedicated to the entertainment by distraction or as the dry institutional preserver of traditions, but rather to foster its strength to connect peoples, communities, cultures and above all to question where we are going. 

… Through storytelling, aesthetics, language, movement, scenography – theatre as a total art form can make us see what was, what is and what our world could be.

Links and Resources

Material used in the composition of this article was sourced and compiled from:

• Website of Checkiday

• Website of Days of the Year

• Website of International Theatre Institute (ITI)

• Website of UNESCO

• Website of World Theatre Day