For one week, the Maddalene Theatre in Padua becomes a European stage dedicated to accessibility and social inclusion. The seven theatre companies, arriving from Italy, Serbia, and Poland and selected through the Creative Europe UAD call, spent 2025 exploring new artistic languages for a more inclusive theatre, able to shed light on themes such as the migrant experience, disability, and gender identity. At the conclusion of the project, the Teatro Stabile del Veneto – Teatro Nazionale hosts the UAD – Universal Art Design Festival from 2 to 8 February at the Maddalene Theatre in Padua and in other venues around the city, with 15 events including theatrical performances, workshops, conferences, and activities spread throughout the urban context.
UAD is a Creative Europe project that aims to bring the principles of accessibility, originally developed in the architectural context of Universal Art Design, into the performing arts. Accessibility, which previously focused on removing physical barriers, is now expressed through the creation of spaces and artistic experiences that are addressed to as many people as possible, without the need for special adaptations during the process. Instead, the performing arts are called upon to be as inclusive as possible from the very beginning of the artistic process.
The project is led by WOAK Wojewódzki Ośrodek Animacji Kultury in Toruń (Poland), with Teatro Stabile del Veneto – Teatro Nazionale participating for Italy and Kulturanova for Serbia. The three artistic production institutions have brought together 36 young artists from their respective countries. Coming from different cultures and from various contexts of marginalization and discrimination, the artists have worked side by side to bring to the stage themes such as social justice, equality, and diversity. The journey began in June 2025 in Toruń with nine days of international workshops focused on anti-discriminatory practices, inclusive languages, and artistic research. By meeting in person, the artists created common ground, a space for encounter and creative exchange, which then led them to Novi Sad in July to share ideas and artistic projects. From this process emerged the artistic proposal of the UAD Festival, which with care and awareness reflects on discrimination, identity, disability, racism, and belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community.
All performances of UAD – Universal Art Design are free of charge, but reservation is recommended and can be made via this link.