Schiller and Britney Spears in the same line-up? It can only be Theatertreffen, which is back with another two weeks of boundary-pushing stage productions starting tomorrow (06.05.2022). Under the direction of Yvonne Büdenhölzer for the last time, the festival will set up camp at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele to showcase the 10 “most remarkable” German-language productions of the year. Under Büdenhölzer, the festival has never been a slave to classical theater, and this year is no different. The program kicks off with Das neue Leben – where do we go from here, a (very) loose adaptation of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” by director and Theatertreffen regular Christopher Rüping. With entertaining results, Rüping blends the Italian poet’s words with pop melodies from Meat Loaf and, yes, Britney (06 & 07.05). The reinvention continues next week (09 & 10.05) with Die Jungfrau von Orleans, a feminst deconstruction of Schiller’s 1801 tragedy by Joanna Bednarczyk.
Director duo Soeren Voima’s Der Tartuffe oder Kapital und Ideologie (21 & 22.05) is also inspired by a historical play, namely Molière’s 1664 comedy. But this version also draws on the 2019 book “Capital and Ideology” by bestselling French economist Thomas Piketty, while the drama plays out not in 17th-century Paris, but a 1980s German flatshare. But Theatertreffen isn’t all about established names and German plays: the Stückemarkt presents theatrical works from all over the world, including Circle Hasu from performer and composer Aine Nakamura (12.05) and And I dreamt I was drowning from London playwright Amanda Wilkin (15.05). Also worth checking out are the Burning Issues talks on hot topics like AI and power imbalances in the theater sector. It’s a line-up that brings (re)invention to where it belongs: right at the front of the stage.
Text: Benji Haughton / Credit: Rebecca Rütten; Joerg Brueggemann, Ostkreuz; Christian Kleiner
Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Schaperstr.24, 10719 Berlin–Wilmersdorf; map
Theatertreffen (06–22.05.2022) – tickets for the performances can be purchased on the website. A number of the productions will also be streamed online – check the program for details.
@berlinerfestspiele