Budapest’s Grund Színház turns 15 and marks it with a four-day, city-hopping festival from November 13 to 16, packing shows, workshops, and community hangouts into a jubilant improv binge. The independent troupe has a simple thesis it’s been testing for a decade and a half: improvisation equals everyday collaboration — on stage, in classrooms, even in boardrooms. This anniversary is pitched as a gift to the audience and the wider community. Come for the theater, stay for the training, leave with a surprisingly useful life skill.
Fifteen Years of Improv, Fifteen Hundred Connections
Since 2009, Grund has been building Budapest’s improv scene with a blend of bold formats and practical training. The GRUND15 lineup balances greatest hits and new designs: the cult favorite Food Film Fighters; the relationship-deconstructing Szakítani fogunk (We’re Going to Break Up); the English-language Russian Roulette; family-friendly Mesemorzsák (Crumbs of Stories); and a spread of open workshops offering a peek into how instant choices become crafted, collaborative theater. Over 15 years, the troupe has delivered more than 750 performances, mounted nearly 20 productions, and trained thousands.
Improv as a Life Tool, Not a Stage Trick
Grund’s core message is refreshingly unfussy: improvisation isn’t magic, it’s human connection. We listen, we respond, we build something together. That’s the engine of their shows, classes, and corporate programs alike — from stages to classrooms to meeting rooms. Artistic director Andrew Hefler puts it like this: “Fifteen years for us is not a period, it’s a comma: staying true to the founding spirit, we’re building the theater from small failures, big dreams, and joyful persistence — while transferring tangible artistic and practical knowledge and experience both on stage and in the training room. With this celebration, we want to reach as many people as possible and make them love the colorful genre of improvisation.”
From Merlin to a Movement
The company’s roots stretch back to late-1990s Budapest, where Hefler worked at the Merlin International Theatre with Alexis Latham and Ben O’Brien on what became the city’s first regularly staged public English-language improv shows. The current ensemble coalesced through auditions in 2009 and has operated as Grund Színház since 2013, founded by Hefler, Eszter Borda, and Marcell Iványi. Their repertoire spans A hét halálos bűn (The Seven Deadly Sins), Maestro, Hazaviszlek (I’ll Take You Home), Food Film Fighters, Cagematch, and newer entries like Russian Roulette and Szakítani fogunk. International tours of Afterparty and Hotel have reached audiences in more than 20 countries. Talent incubator Grund Labor launched in 2016 — spawning the narrative-forward Sztorigami (Storygami) — while Grund Essentials, created in 2020, translates improv into corporate communication and leadership programs built on attention, collaboration, and adaptability.
The Festival: Four Days, Three Venues, Zero Repeats
The party runs across three Budapest venues — MIXÁT (1088 Budapest, Krúdy u. 7.), Brody House (1088 Budapest, Bródy Sándor u. 10.), and Budapest Jazz Club (1136 Budapest, Hollán Ernő u. 7.). All locations offer self-paid food and drinks. The detailed program is on the company’s site, but here’s the highlight reel:
Thursday, Nov 13 — Openers and Intimacy
GRUND15 Opening | Signs of Life at MIXÁT: an improvised look at life as we live it, as we should live it, or as we wish we did — a time-capsule-meets-future-dream opener revisiting the past decade and a half.
GRUND15 | Szakítani fogunk at Mixát Stage: a deeply intimate, audience-involved, improvised journey through a relationship’s arc and afterlife. Maybe they’re meant for each other — just not at the right time.
Friday, Nov 14 — Games and Gastronomy
GRUND15 | Improv for Everyone: Maestro Games at Mixát Stage: an open improv workshop where anyone can step into the hot seat. Be the Maestro, if you dare.
GRUND15 | Food Film Fighters at Mixát Stage: part slam poetry, part improv theater, part gastronomic fever dream, with the audience fueling the mix. It’s a film night that’s as improvised as your snack choices.
Saturday, Nov 15 — Families, Teachers, and a Spinning Wheel
GRUND15 | Morning Improv for Everyone at Mixát Stage: applied theater training geared toward educators (and anyone curious about practical improvisation).
GRUND15 | Mesemorzsák — free kids’ show at Mixát Stage: family improv where children’s ideas spark live-made stories.
GRUND15 | Sztorigami at MIXÁT: the Grund Labor’s beloved story-forward improv show — one story to rule them all, folded and refolded in real time.
GRUND15 | Russian Roulette at Brody House: the room quiets, the wheel spins, your table gets the call. Pick a sketch and embrace the unknown. One table, one choice, infinite possibilities — and yes, it’s in English.
GRUND15 | Double Russian Roulette (18+) at Brody House: same premise, darker edge. The wheel doesn’t care; chance is in charge.
Sunday, Nov 16 — Winner Takes $0.88
GRUND15 | Maestro! Improv to the Death at Budapest Jazz Club: the director’s mission is to get performers into as much trouble as possible, forcing them through a gauntlet of scenes to survive the night and claim the grand prize — a famously modest 500 HUF trophy, a whopping $0.88. Bragging rights included.
Why Go?
Because this is 15 years of Budapest improv distilled into four days. Because no two shows are the same. Because the training is actually useful. Because it’s a celebration — and you’re invited. As Hefler adds: “We always work from the moment — fresh, alive, unpredictable. Playfulness, spontaneity, and immediate reaction aren’t tricks for us, they’re real connection, to each other and to the audience. When improv works at its best, it’s the stage’s sexiest energy — because we create it together, here and now.”
Organizers reserve the right to change dates and programs. November 13–16, 2025. Budapest. Bring your curiosity. The rest will be made up on the spot.
