Elena Gorlatova

Elena Gorlatova, born 1993 in Tyumen (Russia), is a theatre maker, currently based in Berlin. Her practice lies at the intersection of applied theatre, pedagogy and collective performance-making with non-professional participants. She approaches theatre as a democratic space where people with different backgrounds can share experiences and imagine new social possibilities together.

She began her artistic path as an actor, graduating from Saint Petersburg State University in 2015 and working for two years at the Tyumen Youth Theatre . In 2020 she joined the programme Sociocultural Planning in Theatre at the Meyerhold Center in Moscow, where she studied Inclusive Theatre, Directing, Pedagogy and Dramaturgy. Together with colleagues, she co-curated five Citizen’s Theatre (Bürgerbühne) laboratories in different Russian cities. Her diploma project, Women’s City, created with dramaturg Marina Dadychenko in Tyumen, explored urban safety, care and domestic violence with a group of local women. Since 2023 Gorlatova has been based in Berlin, collaborating with Theater Strahl, PLAY! Berlin e.V., and developing theatre projects in Berlin schools. In 2025 she received a fellowship from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion to research participatory methods that help teenagers speak about consent through creative and embodied tools.