Cross-Border, Cross-Cultural: A Week with PLAYGROUND in London

In January 2026, we hosted a Creative Residency as part of PLAYGROUND, a European development programme dedicated to nurturing emerging playwrights and fostering the kind of cross-border collaboration that sits at the very heart of what we do.

For six days, we welcomed two emerging playwrights — Andreea Tănase (Romania) and Tara Mitrović (Serbia) — to London for a collaborative laboratory with UK-based directors and an ensemble of international actors and creatives, exploring the craft of staging plays in translation. The residency included workshops, rehearsals, industry talks and practice exchange.

As part of the residency, we hosted an informal industry sharing at Jermyn Street Theatre, followed by an open discussion with the playwrights and creative teams. The readings were:

• Road Trip by Andreea Tănase, translated by the playwright
• Quiet Hours from Six to Two by Sofija Dimitrijević, in collaboration with Tara Mitrović, translated by Ivana Đurić Paunović

We were thrilled to be joined by directors Ria Samartzi (working on Quiet Hours from Six to Two) and Flo Dessau (working on Road Trip), and actors Anjelica Serra, Miranda Shamiso, Olivia Negrean, Ella Jarman, Lanna Joffrey, and Youness Bouzinab, alongside PLAYGROUND team and collaborators Valentina De Simone, Héctor Manchego, and Dr. Margherita Laera.

The London creative residency was produced by Camila França and Trine Garrett, with associate producer Rachel Toogood and creative coordinator Ruth Payton-Newbury.

For more about the plays and playwrights, please visit the PLAYGROUND website.