TalentLab to Celebrate 10th Anniversary Edition

On Tuesday 25 March 2025, the programme for the tenth anniversary edition of TalentLab was announced at a presentation that took place at the Grand Théâtre in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg.

This year’s TalentLAB festival of theatre, dance and opera will take place from Friday 30 May until Sunday 8 June 2025. Performances will take place at the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg (Grand Théâtre and Théâtre des Capucins), as well as at Villa Vauban.

City of Luxembourg (VdL) Mayor, Lydie Polfer, opened the presentation and spoke of how the festival had increased in size and reputation since its first edition. She noted that, since 2016, it had grown from a national to an international, well-known festival and would continue to be supported financially by VdL. 

Tom Leick-Burns, Director of the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg (City of Luxembourg Theatres), spoke of marking the tenth edition by integrating as many artists as possible into TalentLab 2025. A new network of internationally based associated partners will join this year’s festival, with the aim of providing additional visibility and support for the artists involved. Some members of this newly formed network joined the presentation online. Mr Leick-Burns stated that the new network will add to the “community” role which is so important for the festival. 370 artists will take part in TalentLab 2025. He described TalentLab as a journey of sharing, dialogue, connections and meetings.

TalentLab includes project mentoring, roundtable discussions, workshops and performances.

This year, six projects were selected from 31 applicants representing ten countries worldwide. These participants will be mentored and their projects developed during the ten days of the festival, prior to a showcasing performance on Sunday 8 June 2025.

The six projects were introduced by the following: Tom Leick-Burns; Bernard Baumgarten, Artistic Director of TROIS C-L | Maison Pour la Dance; Elisabeth Schilling, choreographer and dancer with Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg; Myriam Muller, Artistic Director of Luxembourg’s Théâtre du Centaure; Jana Montorio, playwright.

The projects selected are:

- MonOdysée, by Jin Xuan Mao (France);
- The Empire is Collapsing and I’m doing my F**king Laundry, by Liam Rees (UK/ Ireland);
- We at the Nightclub Suffer Together, by Diego Braga (Portugal);
- The Undergrounds of the Possible, by Maya Balam Mayong (Luxembourg);
- Olga et Ysé, by Iris Laurent (France);
- Bête de Foi, by Ashton Laffineur (Luxembourg).

This year, many of the projects and performances have an LGBTQ+ theme. Tom Leick-Burns noted that, while TalentLab did not specifically pursue this theme, it reflected the issues inspiring the young creators of today. According to Tom Leick-Burns, the projects concerned highlight different aspects and viewpoints of a topic that is more open and acceptable to today’s generation.

The programme for TalentLab 2025 is as follows:

- Friday 30 May: The Great Chevalier (in French), presented by the Ballet National Folklorique du Luxembourg (National Folkloric Ballet) at Villa Vauban at 18:00;
- Friday 30 May: Tragédie (Tragedy; in French) at the Grand Théâtre at 20:00;
- Saturday 31 May: Workshop with Tragédie performers at the Grand Théâtre at 10:30;
- Sunday 1 June: The Great Chevalier at Villa Vauban at 11:00 (in English) and 15:00 (in French);
- Sunday 1 June: Tragédie (in French) at the Grand Théâtre at 17:00;
- Monday 2 June: Quiet Songs (in English) at the Grand Théâtre at 20:00;
- Tuesday 3 June: 3 du Trois Goes TalentLab (in English with translation). The first part consists of a roundtable discussion at 17:00, followed by two dance performances at Banannefabrik Cultural Centre in Luxembourg-Bonnevoie starting at 19:00;
- Tuesday 3 June: Quiet Songs (in English) at the Grand Théâtre at 20:00;
- Wednesday 4 June: the first of two anniversary evenings, showcasing three performances will take place at Théâtre des Capucins at 18:00;
- Thursday 5 June: Des Mondes Hantés workshop, with Anne-Cécile Vandalem, at Théâtre des Capucins at 14:00;
- Thursday 5 June: the second anniversary evening, showcasing three performances, at the Grand Théâtre at 20:00;
- Friday 6 and Saturday 7 June: KS6, Small Forward (in English) at the Grand Théâtre at 20:00 both evenings;
-Sunday 8 June: Project Presentations at 15:00 at Théâtre des Capucins and at 19:30 at the Grand Théâtre.

For further information and tickets, see: https://theatres.lu/fr/talentlab

HOM

Updated to correct dates for KS6, Small Forward performances.