This research project and book (forthcoming at Routledge in 2026) observes and documents a return to fiction, in contemporary theatre and performance. In response to pressing issues such as climate change, faltering democracies or social inequality, artists rediscover the value and necessity of imagination and speculation, in order to create alternative scenarios for a world in crisis. Simulation, Speculation and Futurity in Contemporary Dramaturgy analyses this tendency that can be observed in the work of many European theatre makers, like Milo Rau, Dries Verhoeven, Samira Elagoz, Theatre NO99, Rimini Protokoll, Julian Hetzel, Philippe Quesne or Lotte van den Berg, and systematically explores the strategies with which these artists exploit the potential of fiction while expanding the realm of dramaturgy. This book argues that theatre provides a perfect frame for such practices of simulation and speculation, due to its genealogy of exploring and experimenting with alternate realities. While using the theatre as a safe space for experimentation, contemporary artists deploy theatre’s toolkit to activate a ‘what if’ thinking, thus turning theatre into a place for rehearsing futurity.