Characters
Baku, Azerbaijan · 1–10 October 2025
The 2025 edition brings new plays from Azerbaijan and the region to Baku. Readings, talks and workshops with playwrights and directors.
About
The festival supports contemporary voices and encourages experimentation in form and subject. It highlights dramaturgy of care and encounter—work that tests the edge of comfort and invites audiences into difficult, necessary conversations. Characters creates a space where new plays can be read, discussed and developed with a jury of theatre professionals and an international outlook.
Jury
The festival jury includes Ismayil Iman (artistic director and curator) alongside other theatre professionals from Azerbaijan and the region. Together they select and develop new plays and support playwrights through readings and feedback. Full jury listings are announced with each edition.
Programme
Opening night
Main stage
1 Oct
opening
Dramaturgy in focus
Studio
3 Oct
talk
Writing workshop
Workshop space
5 Oct
workshop
Selected readings
Main stage
8 Oct
performance
Closing performance
Main stage
10 Oct
closing