Theatre - Institutions, Stages, Festivals

The State Puppet Theater of Varna, Bulgaria with Plato’s Likeness of the Cave; photo: International Shadow Theater Festival

Unimagined Spaces: The 9th International Shadow Theater Festival

The International Shadow Theater Festival, which took place from October 12 to 18, every three years turns Schwäbisch Gmünd into the international meeting place of contemporary shadow theater.More ...

Brett Bailey's Installation „Exhibit B“; © Piet Janssens

The Berlin Festival Foreign Affairs

The Berlin Festspiele will start the 2012/2013 season with the festival Foreign Affairs. It replaces the previous spielzeit europa.More ...

Materialtheater Stuttgart: „Drei Affen, Parabel vom Aufstand der Dinge“ (Thre Monkeys, A Parable about the Rebellion of Things), winner of the festival; photo: Luigi Consalvo

Festival for Puppet Theater: Synergura 2012

From July 4 to 8, the ninth Synergura, the long-established puppet theater festival, took place in Erfurt.More ...

Matthias Lilienthal; photo: MERIAN Berlin/ © Georg Knoll

Theater without Borders – on the end of the artistic directorship of Matthias Lilienthal at HAU

Under Matthias Lilienthal from 2003 to 2012, the Berlin theater Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) was the most innovative stage in the Germany.More ...

Berlin Festival: Play Market; © Piero Chiussi

The German Play Markets

Play markets are both trade fairs and festivals on the one hand and promotion instruments for contemporary drama on the other. In times of a rising number of premiers, they have grown more diversified.More ...

Volker Ludwig and Stefan Fischer-Fels; © Andy Rumball

Groping and Trying Things Out – The Grips Theater under New Leadership

After 42 years, the founder of the Grips Theater in Berlin, Volker Ludwig, has passed on the artistic directorship to Stefan Fischer-Fels.More ...

„Kill your Darlings! Streets of Berladelphia“ by René Pollesch, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin; in the middle: Fabian Hinrichs; © Thomas Aurin

Mirror of Change – The 49th Theater Meeting in Berlin

The 2012 Theater Meeting clearly showed what has changed in German theater: the importance of the independent scene has increased and forms of production have changed.More ...

Dance and Theater Stories: Panoptikum, the Festival for Children’s Theatre

In February 2012, the Seventh Festival for Children’s Theatre from Bavaria and Europe took place in Nuremberg.More ...

Club Guy & Roni (Groningen); © Roelof Boes

The Pumpenhaus, Münster – a Theatre with Chutzpah

One of the most adventurous theatres in Westphalia is the Pumpenhaus in Münster. One of its focal points is modern dance.More ...

The house of Berlin Festival; © Burkhard Peter

Love of Adventure and Urgency of Perspective – An Interview with Thomas Oberender

Thomas Oberender, newe head of the Berlin Festival, formulates his demands on the Festival: it should be open to the world and present new perspectives.More ...

Explorations of the Alien – the 8th Politics in Independent Theater Festival in Dresden

The 8th Politics in Independent Theater Festival is taking place in Dresden from October 27 to November 6, 2011.More ...

Annemie Vanackere, artistic director at Hebbel am Ufer from September 2012; © Bresadola/drama-berlin.de

Hebbel am Ufer has opted for a strong international profile

In September 2012 the Flemish Annemie Vanackere will be succeeding the current manager Matthias Lilienthal at Hebbel Am Ufer.More ...

„Off to Swabia, Children!“ by the Stuttgart Young People’s Ensemble; photo: Tom Pingel

Children’s and Young People’s Theater in 2011: “Augenblick mal” and “KinderStückePreis”

In May 2011, the 11th German Children’s and Young People’s Theater Meeting, Augenblick mal and the 2nd KinderStückePreis took place.More ...

All awardees at the award ceremony of the Impulse Theatre Festival 2011. photo: Robin Junicke

Major Transgressions – the Impulse Theatre Festival 2011

The North Rhine-Westphalian festival is the most important showcase of the German-language independent scene. It has been around for 20 years and become more and more international.More ...

Triumph of the Small and the Independent – The Berlin Theatre Meeting 2011

For the 48th time, the Berlin Theatre Meeting presented in May 2011 the “ten most notable performances” of the season from German-speaking countries, selected by a jury of critics.More ...

Ballhaus Naunynstraße: Full Steam against Clichés

The small backyard theatre Ballhaus Naunynstraße in the Berlin immigrant district of Kreuzberg is conceptually unique in Germany.More ...

Heidelberg Theater – „Play Market“ / Teatron Beit Lessin, Tel Aviv: „They call me Jeckisch“ by Nina Gühlstorff and Nina Steinhilber, with: Hadas Kalderon, Michael Hanegbi; photo: Markus Kaesler

The Art of Conflict – Israeli-German Theatre Cooperation

At the Berlin Schaubühne, at the Heidelberg Play Market: At present it seems that German and Israeli theatre are working intensively with one another.More ...

From Every Corner of Europe – The 2010 Theatre Biennial of the Wiesbaden State Theatre

The 2010 Theatre Biennial in Wiesbaden and Mainz gathered together new European plays and celebrated a round anniversary.More ...

Jesus on the Mount of Olives; photo: Brigitte Maria Mayer / Passionsspiele Oberammergau 2010

Theater as Tradition – The Passion Play in Oberammergau

Every ten years, the Passion Play Festival takes place in Oberammergau. Director Christian Stückl has freed the play from its anti-Semitic stance.More ...

Uwe Gössel, Forum director since 2006; Photo: Piero Chiussi

Stages with Wanderlust – The International Forum at the Berlin Theater Meeting

At the International Forum, renowned theater makers handed down their experience to those starting their careers.More ...

The Impulse Prize goes to “Othello c´est qui”, directed by Monika Gintersdorfer and Knut Klaßen. Photo: Knut Klaßen

Bad Outlook for Do-Gooders: A Look at the Impulse Theater Festival 2009

At the fifteenth Impulse Festival projects triumphed that work on changing life into art.More ...

Frie Leysen, Program director of the Theater of the World Festival 2010; Foto: Ilja Höpping.

A No Man’s Land on World Tour – The Programme of the Theatre of the World Festival 2010

Program director Frie Leysen will bring avant gardists and border crossers between the disciplines to the Ruhr region in order to dispel clichés.More ...

European debut performance at the International Summerfestival in Hamburg of 'Mi Vida después' of the argentinian director Lola Arias; Foto: Lorena Fernández

Between Bathing Lake and Stage – A Survey of Summer Festivals

The festival idea flourishes, and festivals sprout up everywhere, but essentially there seems to be something rotten here.More ...

Berlin Theatre Meeting 2006; © Jason Kassab-Bachi

Theatre Criticism – Festival Newspapers as a Means of Promoting Young Talent

Interesting for everyone who wants to become a theatre critic are theatre festivals that grant scholarships for the production of a festival newspaper.More ...

'Captain Berlin vs. Hitler', Joerg Buttgereit 2007; copyright: David Baltzer / bildbuehne.de

Hebbel am Ufer: A Pioneer of the Boards and a Venue for Debate

Consisting of three stages, Kreuzberg’s theatre trust, the Hebbel am Ufer, also abbreviated as HAU (“Hit” in German), brings the most contemporary theatre, dance and performance trends to Berlin from around the world.More ...

'Das Mond-Ei', Coproduction by Theaterhandlung and Junges Schauspielhaus Duesseldorf, 2008; copyright: KJTZ / Theater von Anfang an!; photo: Sebastian Hoppe

Big Theatre for Little People: The Children’s and Young People’s Theatre Centre celebrates 20 years

"Children need theatre!" – with this slogan the Children’s and Young People’s Theatre Centre in Frankfurt is making it known that young audiences need professional theatre.More ...

Institutions, Stages, Festivals