An Istrian native, she is active in contemporary European theatre as a director, actress, dramaturg and theatre theorist
The first woman to direct Mittelfest
Agata Tomšič will take the artistic reins at Mittelfest when the term of the current artistic director, Giacomo Pedini, expires on 1 October 2026.
The director, actress, dramaturg, project manager and theatre theorist – particularly renowned for her commitment to that avant-garde theatre scene based in Emilia Romagna – was selected as the winner of the official call for applications for the post of artistic director of Mittelfest, which closed on 31 December, with 43 Italian and international candidates. Mittelfest board of directors, in agreement with the regional government of Friuli Venezia Giulia, has recognised in Tomšič the full potential for the future to which this historic festival – founded as a bridge between East and West and based in Cividale del Friuli – aspires; she will be the first female artistic director, following 35 editions led by men.
“On behalf of myself and the Regional Administration, I would like to congratulate Agata Tomšič on her appointment as artistic director of Mittelfest from this coming autumn. I am sure that the entire new leadership team will be able to safeguard the legacy of a festival that belongs to Cividale and, at the same time, to the whole of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Agata Tomšič’s experience, her links with Central Europe and the Balkans, and her international career are all in keeping with the identity of Mittelfest, which was founded as a space for dialogue between different realities, languages and sensibilities. We therefore wish her every success in her new role, in the firm belief that Mittelfest will continue to be an outpost of our beloved border culture,” said Mario Anzil, Vice-President and Regional Councillor for Culture and Sport.
Agata Tomšič, born in Isola, Slovenia, in 1986, holds a degree and a postgraduate qualification in Performing Arts from Bologna; she is the co-founder of ErosAntEros theatre company and co-artistic director of POLIS Teatro Festival in Ravenna. Her work stands out for its civic engagement, multidisciplinary nature and strong international focus, with an emphasis on Central Europe and the Balkans. As of this year, she is also a member of the board of directors of ItaliaFestival.
The new president of Mittelfest, Toni Capuozzo, expressed his satisfaction: “Agata Tomšič is a woman of the borderlands, just like Mittelfest. She will know how to go beyond borders, just as Mittelfest has always done.”
“I am very happy and grateful for the trust that has been placed in me by awarding me this prestigious role,” saidAgata Tomšič. “I know Mittelfest well and always felt a bit at home there; in the past, whenever I approached the border where I was born, I would come to attend the festival. This year, I’ve spent the last two weeks in Cividale del Friuli: I’ve met the technical and organisational team, explored the venues and spoken to the audience. I’ve allowed myself some special time to start building a connection with the local area and the people who live there. This is a moment that few artistic directors can claim to have had before taking on a new project, and it will nourish my imagination and the ambitions of the festival we will build in the future. In the coming years, I wish to draw on the knowledge I have acquired over almost 20 years of theatre work in Italy and abroad to continue making Mittelfest that special meeting place from which we can observe and understand our present. To harness the power of the many contemporary performative languages to continue nurturing that European dream of coexistence between different peoples and cultures, where opposites meet and merge through dialogue. To use the art of being together, the power of theatre’s ‘here and now’, to combine popular art with experimentation, traditions with innovation, so that we may once again become a breeding ground for the new and a point of reference within the European theatre scene,’ she concluded.
See you at Mittelfest 2027.
UFFICIO STAMPA LOCALE MITTELFEST
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Francesca Gatti – +39 3479854644
