Dramaturgy Workshop with Florian Borchmeyer, Schaubühne Berlin

In recent years, theatre productions in Hong Kong have begun to explore the possibilities of scenography, a concept that has had a major impact on contemporary European theatre. In 2017, in response to these developments, West Kowloon teamed up with Edward Lam Dance Theatre to launch the three-year programme “What Is Stage”.

Taking the theme “From Text to Space”, this year’s programme looks at the history and operations of the Schaubühne Berlin, how they work with texts, and how they incorporate the scenographic aesthetics of Jan Pappelbaum.

In a special extension of this year’s programme, participants selected to take part in the screening and discussion sessions will also work with Pappelbaum’s colleague Florian Borchmeyer, Head of Dramaturgy at the Schaubühne Berlin, gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between text and set design in a five-day artist workshop organised as part of our “Dramaturgy and Beyond” programme.

Florian Borchmeyer was born in 1974 in Wasserburg am Inn, Germany. He has worked as a dramaturg since 2011, and was appointed head of dramaturgy at the Schaubühne Berlin in 2013. Borchmeyer studied literature in Berlin, Havana and Paris, and in 2006 he received a doctorate in philosophy with a graduate thesis on the history of the discovery of America. In the same year, his documentary movie Habana – Arte nuevo de hacer ruinas (Havana – The new art of making ruins) was recognised at the Bavarian Film Prize (Bayerische Filmpreis). Borchmeyer continues to work as a filmmaker and as a literature critic for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He also curates the international programme at the Filmfest Munich.