Theatertreffen 2025: The Jury’s Selection
At today’s press conference on 22 January at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the festival’s director Nora Hertlein-Hull was joined by the critics who constitute the Theatertreffen-jury to announce the selection of the 10 most remarkable productions nominated for an invitation to the 2025 Theatertreffen. The 62nd edition of Berliner Festspiele’s Theatertreffen, which is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, will take place from 2 to 18 May 2025 at Haus der Berliner Festspiele and other venues across Berlin.
Between 18 January 2024 and 16 January 2025, the critics of the 2025 Theatertreffen-jury, Eva Behrendt, Janis El-Bira, Valeria Heintges, Sabine Leucht, Martin Thomas Pesl, Katrin Ullmann and Sascha Westphal, viewed and discussed a total of 738productions from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The final jury session took place yesterday, 21 January 2025, at Haus der Berliner Festspiele. The quota of at least 50 percent of female directors, which was established in 2020, was still valid for this selection process.
The following productions have been nominated for an invitation to the 2025 Theatertreffen:
Bernarda Albas Haus
By Alice Birch based on Federico García Lorca
Director: Katie Mitchell
Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg
Blutbuch
Novel by Kim de l’Horizon
In a version by Jan Friedrich
Director and costume designer: Jan Friedrich
Theater Magdeburg
Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar / Würgendes Blei
By Bertolt Brecht / a sequel by Björn SC Deigner (commissioned work)
Director: Luise Voigt
Residenztheater (Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel), Munich
Die Maschine oder: Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh
By Georges Perec and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Director: Anita Vulesica
Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg
Double Serpent
By Sam Max
Director: Ersan Mondtag
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
[EOL]. End of Life
A virtual ruinscape
Performative installation in virtual reality by DARUM
Direction and story: Victoria Halper & Kai Krösche (DARUM)
A co-production of DARUM and brut Wien
Funded by the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs (MA7) and the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport
ja nichts ist ok
By Pollesch/Hinrichs
Text: René Pollesch
Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin
Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78
An encounter with Pina Bausch’s piece “Kontakthof” (1978)
Conceived and directed by Meryl Tankard
A production of Sadler’s Wells, Pina Bausch Foundation and Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.
Co-produced with Amare (The Hague), LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura, Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Seongnam Arts Center and China Shanghai International Arts Festival and supported as a contribution to the preparation of the Pina Bausch Centre with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the City of Wuppertal.
SANCTA
Opera performance by Florentina Holzinger, featuring Paul Hindemith’s opera “Sancta Susanna”, spiritual works and new compositions by Johanna Doderer, Born in Flamez, Stefan Schneider et al.
Director, choreographer and performance: Florentina Holzinger
A production by Florentina Holzinger/Spirit, neon lobster, Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater and Staatsoper Stuttgart in co-production with Wiener Festwochen | Freie Republik Wien and Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin (in co-operation with Komische Oper Berlin), Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Julidans and Theater Rotterdam.
Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Ammodo, and the City of Vienna’s Department for Cultural Affairs.
Unser Deutschlandmärchen
Based on the novel by Dinçer Güçyeter
Adapted for the stage by Hakan Savaş Mican
Director: Hakan Savaş Mican
Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin
Kommentar zur Auswahl Nora
To the selection including jury statements
To the list of all productions discussed by the jury
To the Rules of Procedure
Theatertreffen-Jury:
Berliner Festspiele would like to thank all jury members for their extraordinary commitment and efforts. With the conclusion of this year’s festival edition, the five critics Eva Behrendt, Janis El-Bira, Valeria Heintges, Katrin Ullmann and Sascha Westphal will leave the jury as part of the regular rotation. In their place, critics Alexandra Kedves, Vincent Koch, Yaël Koutouan, Falk Schreiber and Christine Wahl have been appointed. Together with Sabine Leucht and Martin Thomas Pesl, they have already started their work for the 2026 Theatertreffen. The viewing period for the 2026 festival edition began on 17 January of this year and will end at the conclusion of the current calendar year on 31 December 2025. The quota of at least 50 percent of female directors will remain in place for the selection process for 2026. To the 2026 jury
Outlook on the 2025 Festival Edition
The presentation of the 10 most remarkable productions selected by the jury at Haus der Berliner Festspiele and other venues across Berlin is at the core of Theatertreffen. Since 2024, the performances have been complemented by newly established “Night Talks” with the audience.
As part of the accompanying programme, this year’s festival edition will honour the 60th anniversary of the International Forum, which was founded in 1965 under the name of “Begegnung junger Bühnenangehöriger (Encounters of young Theatre Workers)”. To this date, the International Forum has gathered a total of 2443international theatre makers, some of whom are still connected with each other in artistic collaborations and/or to be found as active artists in contemporary theatre.
Under the title “Forum Theatertreffen 1965-2025”, NoraHertlein-Hull and the co-directors of the International Forum SimaDjabar Zadegan and AljoschaBegrich have curated a programme consisting exclusively of artistic positions by alumni of the International Forum. In performative pieces, lecture performances, installations, films, readings of texts for the theatre as well as discussion events, selected alumni will give an insight into their multi-faceted work and their artistic and social positioning. The detailed programme will be announced on 4 April 2025.
The main sponsors of the accompanying programme are the Federal Agency for Civic Education and the Heinz und Heide Dürr Stiftung.
2025 International Forum and Theatertreffen-Blog
Aside from the planned anniversary programme, the International Forum once again invites around 35 aspiring artists from the performing arts worldwide to participate in an exclusive 18-day scholarship programme at Berlin’s Uferstudios. Following a global Open Call last autumn, 880 artists from 104 countries applied to take part. The selected fellows will be announced on Berliner Festspiele’s website at the end of February.
The 2025Theatertreffen-Blog sees itself as a workshop editing team where theatre and arts journalism are tried and tested in the context of an ongoing festival. The format will once again be conceived and accompanied by arts journalists GreteGötze and TamaraMarszalkowski. Five aspiring arts journalists will form an editorial team during Theatertreffen, providing critical coverage of the festival. Applications for participation in the context of the current Open Call can still be submitted until 10 February. theatertreffen-blog.de
Theatertreffen would like to thank its partners in these contexts. For the International Forum: Goethe-Institut, the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia, the German Stage Association, the Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Art, Culture, Civil Service and Sport as well as all other supporters. For the Theatertreffen-Blog: Stiftung Presse-Haus NRZ.
Awards and the 3sat-Media Partnership
Furthermore, three prizes will be awarded at the festival: There will be a distinction for special merits for the theatre, the Theatre-Award-Berlin of Foundation Preußische Seehandlung, for an outstanding performing achievement by an emerging actor, the Alfred-Kerr-Acting-Award, and for an artistically innovative performance, the 3sat-Award. As Theatertreffen’s long-standing media partner, 3sat will produce and broadcast television recordings of three productions invited to the festival under the title of “Starke Stücke”.
Theatertreffen is funded by the GermanFederal Cultural Foundation.
Funded by the FederalGovernment Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Media Partner: 3sat
The festival would like to thank all of its co-operation partners and supporters as well as everyone involved for their co-operation.