Willem Dafoe confirmed as artistic director of Venice Biennale Teatro through 2028 after record edition

The board of the Venice Biennale, chaired by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, confirmed Willem Dafoe as artistic director of the Theatre sector for the 2027-2028 biennium on 21 June 2026, the closing day of the 2026 edition. The festival, directed by the American actor, recorded 10,000 presences and halls filled to 90% capacity throughout its run.

Record attendance and Buttafuoco's praise

Buttafuoco contrasted Dafoe's approach with the theatrical instinct to exaggerate.

To make theatre, figuratively speaking, means to exaggerate, to draw attention to oneself. Well, that is everything Willem Dafoe has not done in these two years of work at the Biennale. Dafoe brought to the Lagoon research, tradition, ritual and care. His programme focused on choral work, on theatre made with human flesh, with spirit and with sweat.

Dafoe's artistic vision

The four-time Oscar nominee, whose stage career spans 50 years, described the role as an exploration of theatre's collective power.

I am grateful for the opportunity to continue my work as director of the Biennale Teatro. These last two years of close involvement with the Biennale have allowed me to explore the power and magic of that total art which is theatre. I am honoured to continue my work with the President of the Biennale, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, with the entire dedicated team of the Venice Biennale and with Valentina Alferj and Andrea Porcheddu, building on the foundations laid in these first two years. A passionate exploration in which making theatre springs from a creative impulse and may have no explicit goal, but is fully committed and never loses sight of the conviction that the collective experience is what matters.

Closing performances and documentary

The 2026 edition, which ran from 7 June, featured 200 artists and 55 events across all continents. The final day included Lemi Ponifasio's Star Returning: Venice at the Teatro alle Tese and Jacopo Giacomoni and Silvia Costa's Tacet at the Tese dei Soppalchi. Rai 5 will broadcast a documentary on the festival on 10 July.