NTCH’s ARTQUAKE in Autumn 2026 Explores Human Nature, History and Politics

The National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH) 2026 edition of ARTQUAKE in Autumn launches in Oct with a programme exploring social issues and human nature through drama, music, and dance. This year’s theme, Forest Pathfinding, focuses on the human journey manifested in history, politics, personal introspection, and allegory. 

Identifying the path we have taken enables us to rediscover concealed histories and experiences, as well as buried memories and identities. Caroline Guiela Nguyen‘s LACRIMA sheds light on laborers who are often hidden in the process of globalization and explores how it shapes individual self-awareness. In their production, Magic Maids, Eisa Jocson and Venuri Perera focus on transnational labor that contemporary people often take for granted, creating overlapping images of witches and maids and turning daily household chores into rituals of resilience. In addition, Malicho Vaca Valenzuela presents REMINISCENCIA in which afterimages of his city are used to excavate fragments of personal and collective memories, while Panai mends broken identities with her songs, renewing a return to her roots, of belonging to the land, in Border of Drifting. 

Caroline Guiela Nguyen: LACRIMA

Eisa Jocson ╳ Venuri Perera: Magic Maids

Malicho Vaca Valenzuela: Reminiscencia

Some paths are “built” on shared journeys. In the face of tumultuous and uncertain relationships, we explore how to walk with others through the body, senses, sounds, and rhythms, generating meaning in the process. In LEE\\\\\\\\VAKULYA ✕ Hessisches Staatstheater‘s Become Ocean, there is dissolution of the individual into natural cycles, resulting in the experience of eternal mysteries. In My Fierce Ignorant Step, Christos Papadopoulos’ choreography evokes a shared consciousness through rhythm and sound, awakening a forgotten cohesiveness. 4 CHAIRS THEATRE’s co-production with David Geselson, entitled Unwritten Letters, transforms the theatre into a space for entrusting emotion, as audiences listen to messages that have gone too long without being said. Finally, in Philippe Quesne‘s apocalyptic allegory, The Garden of Delights, we see people in an absurd situation attempting to build a utopian society.  

LEE\\VAKULYA ✕ Hessisches Staatsballett: Become Ocean

Christos Papadopoulos: My Fierce Ignorant Step

4 CHAIRS THEATRE ✕ David Geselson: Unwritten Letters

Philippe Quesne: The Garden of Delights

During the ARTQUAKE in Autumn 2026, audiences are invited to a forest shrouded in mist. Each of the eight featured works serves as a winding path for audiences to wander, linger, and reflect. This journey is not about the destination, but about approaching truth through exploration and generating meaning through divergence.