Theatre - Theatre Scene and Trends

„Radio ballet“ at Leipzig Main station; © Ligna

“To everyone!” - A Documentary on the Performance Group LIGNA

LIGNA is a group operating between radio art and performance art. They succeed in using radio as an instrument for politicising public space. A book now documents their interventions.More ...

Kevin Rittbergers „Kassandra oder die Welt als Ende der Vorstellung”, Wiener Schauspielhaus, © Alexi Pelekanos

Realities of Life – How the Theater Is Responding to the Theme of “Migration”

German municipal theater is increasingly taking up the theme of “migration”, but is often shy of doing this in the usual form of narrative theater.More ...

“artistic director’s merry-go-round”; photo: Kathrin Schäfer

Change and Continuity in Theatre

General directors come and go. “Eight years are enough”, announced Hasko Weber, general director of Schauspiel Stuttgart. Why the carousel of general directors must keep turning.More ...

„Hush, no more“; director: Corinna von Rad; photos © Simon Hallström

Local Border Traffic – Theater Makers between Musical and Spoken Theater

A species of theatre artists has arisen that might be called the musical theater project developer.More ...

Armin Petras, theatre director and the general director of the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin; © Bettina Stöß

Porsche Engine in a Trabi – Armin Petras on Kleist and His Impact

Armin Petras is author, theatre director and the general director of the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. From November 4 to 21, the theatre will be host to a big Kleist Festival.More ...

Young Ensemble Stuttgart: „Noch 5 Minuten“ („Another 5 Minutes“, 2009); © Nina Urban

Relevant and Forward-Looking – Theater for Young People

Throughout Germany, directors are developing interpretations of the classics and new plays for young people. Their theatrical language is diverse and challenging.More ...

Detail of the cover of Peter Michalzik's “kleist. dichter, krieger, seelensucher”, Propyläen Publishers, Berlin

Who Was Kleist? A new Biography on the occasion of the 200th Anniversary of the Poet’s Death

He was probably a jagged man, and there are phases of his life which are so obscure that they have driven students of Kleist to wild speculations. The critic Peter Michalzik has brought out a biography.More ...

„Pizza senza Mamma“, Direction: Brigitte Dethier, Young Ensemble Stuttgart; Photo: Young Ensemble Stuttgart

Deep Valleys, High Peaks, Wide Open Spaces: Directors of Children’s Theatre in Germany

In Germany, directors of children’s theatre take up deep subjects, expand horizons and are as innovative as the nature of performing art itself.More ...

Wrestling about quality; photo: Dirk Mehrwald, www.Ringerverband-SH.de

A Question of Time – Print or Online and how the Internet is Changing Theatre Criticism

In print media it is given less and less space, while at the same time the internet is accelerating theatre criticism to an undreamt of degree.More ...

The Train Station, the Citizens, and the Protest: Theatre on the Streets

In Stuttgart, the citizens are protesting. The theatre director Volker Lösch foresaw the conflict, put it on stage and is now energetically putting his oar in.More ...

Picture of Heinrich von Kleist, 1801; drawing by Peter Friedel, Dresden, Otto Krug Collection; © Wikimedia commons

The Trial by Fire – the 200th Anniversary of the Death of Heinrich von Kleist

The theatre is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist – but on stage the party has long been in progress.More ...

ASSITEJ – International Association of Theatre for Children and Young

Of Petrol Stations, Backpacks and Fertile Clashes – The ASSITEJ Conference “Theatre and School”

At the Munich Schauburg, researchers presented projects with which federal states, cities and individual theatres hope to woo the audiences of tomorrow.More ...

Christoph Schlingensief; Photo: Aino Laberenz

Schlingensief’s Legacy

Christoph Schlingensief has left a very rich body of work, of which we shall be seeing and hearing much.More ...

The corridor of a dramaturgy of a German theater; Photo: Drama / Iko Freese

Ensemble of Newcomers – Generation Change in German-Language Theatre

In the 2009/2010 season there were more changes of management in German-language theatres than there have been in a long time.More ...

“Fight Club – Real Tekken” by the group God’s Entertainment; Photo: God’s Entertainment

In Search of the Creative Moment – Computer Games in the Theatre

Scepticism about virtual game worlds is waning. The theatre is increasingly taking up computer games and interactive media and incorporating them in stage reality. A look at the most recent inter-media encounters.More ...

„The promised city“, Boris Sieverts, 2010, Goethe-Institut Warschau; photo: Bartosz Ciszewski, Paula Furga

The Extension of the Theatrical Combat Zone – Art Projects in Urban Space

Are traditional stages no longer enough for performers and theatre makers?More ...

Elfriede Jelinek “The Merchant’s Contract” Koproduktion Schauspiel Köln und Thalia Theater Hamburg; director: Nicolas Stemann; photo: David Baltzer

“From Nothing Comes Nothing” – What Is the Crisis Doing to the Theater and What Is the Theater Doing with the Crisis?

At present authors, dramaturges and directors are biding their time with respect to the crisis.More ...

„Dr. Seuss’s ABC“ by the artistitic collective Cheap at the Theater an der Parkaue (2005); photo: Christian Brachwitz

The Open and Its Limits – Dance and Performance in Theater for Children and Young People

Dance and performance groups from the independent scene fructify children’s and young people’s theater with new forms of acting.More ...

The directors Knut Klaaßen and Monika Gintersdorfer with Franck Edmond Yao in the middle (performer in „Logobi #04“, „Logobi #05“ and „Othello, c’est qui ?“); photo: Sarah Bennani

Independent Or Not Independent – Boundaries Between State Theater and the Independent Scene are Dissolving

Many who have made careers in theater began in the independent scene.More ...

„Best Before“, a Multi Player Game by Rimini Protokoll; photo: Milan Radovanovic

Best Before – Rimini Protokoll Stages a Multi-Player Game in Vancouver

In the latest production of Rimini Protokoll there are again experts. But the main actor is the audience, which guide 200 avatars through a game of life.More ...

Luc Bondy's „Seagull“ (2001) at the Akademietheater in Vienna with Gert Voss and Johanna Wokalek; Photo: Ruth Walz

Everyone loves Chekhov: The 150th Birthday of the Playwright

Although Chekhov is not the most performed playwright on the German stage, no other is charged with such meaning.More ...

Roland Schimmelpfennig, Foto: Justine del Corte

Probing for the Pain Points – An Interview with Author and Director Roland Schimmelpfennig

He studied directing, then he decided to write. Today he is one of the most successful theater authors.More ...

Directed by Nicolas Stemann: “The Robbers” at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg; Foto: Arno Declair

Learning from Schiller – The 250th Anniversary of Friedrich Schiller’s Birth

Is Friedrich Schiller so attractive for the theatre precisely because there was always an historian in the dramatist?More ...

Adress of welcome by Joachim Sartorius, director of the Berlin Theatre Festival, at the symposium on “The Future of Contemporary Drama” (9.–11. October 2009); Foto: Piero Chiussi

“There’s Nothing Older than Yesterday’s Premier” – A Symposium on the Contemporary German Drama

A symposium in Berlin threw light on the situation of contemporary drama.More ...

Ver.di-demonstration in Berlin; Foto: Piero Chiussi

Strikes and Art – The Role of Unions in German Theatre

There have been battles, arguments and strikes. Which role play the Unions in German Theatre today?More ...

‘Faust’ by Laurent Chétouane at the Cologne Theatre; f.l.t.r. Joris Cameiln, Carlo Ljubek, Jan-Peter Kampwirth and Christoph Luser; Foto: Oliver Fantitsch

Theatre Beyond all Genres

In German-speaking theatre there are more and more productions that refuse to fit into any genre.More ...

Theatre Scene and Trends