Theatertreffen-Blog
Selected young authors and theatre enthusiasts will provide artistic and journalistic coverage of Theatertreffen on theatertreffen-blog.de, focussing especially on the use of social media tools on Instagram and Twitter.
© Piero Chiussi
The 2023 Open Call
We are looking for people who would like to examine the relevance of the theatre in various social contexts and are interested in a critical analysis of what they see. In 2023, the Theatertreffen-Blog would like to open up to content in a variety of languages and to invite the bloggers to not only view the festival’s invited productions and the programme as a whole but also to consider and challenge power structures in the cultural sector. Furthermore, it sees itself as a space for people to learn from each other and to apply their already existing expertise to create and to write.
Open Call 2023
The deadline has now expired. Submissions are not possible anymore. The selection will be announced at the end of March 2023.
© Fabian Schellhorn
The Theatertreffen-Blog
The 2023 Theatertreffen-Blog, which will be headed by Antigone Akgün in close cooperation with Zofia nierodzińska, sees itself as a space for experimenting with ways of considering theatre and arts journalism through performative devices. The focus does not necessarily have to lie on the written word. Instead, the aim is to create multi-media coverage with an artistic vision and to test the journalistic suitability of, for instance, social media platforms for such content. Furthermore, the Theatertreffen-Blog intends to create a closer network with the fellows of the International Forum and participants of other formats as well as representatives of (cultural) media, in order to promote a sustainable cooperation beyond the festival.
Six authors and theatre enthusiasts provide critical on-site coverage of Theatertreffen. Qualifications will be honed, journalistic writing skills will be developed and new formats will be invented. Applications for participation in the Theatertreffen-Blog can be submitted in the context of an open call which is usually published towards the end of the previous year.
History
Relocating the festival newspaper – which was produced from 2005 to 2008 in cooperation with the Berliner Zeitung – to the internet expanded the reach and transparency of the festival’s coverage: discussions on the productions invited to the festival could be followed independently of time or place, and audiences were able to contribute their views via the comments section. The expansion of the call for submissions to include not only German but also English-speakers participants led to a more international tenor in the debates. And not least of all, requiring participants to have their own blog produced a selection of contributors who were already active online.
The Theatertreffen-Blog has developed into its own independent digital brand, and was linked by Guardian Online, nachtkritik.de and the feminist blog maedchenmannschaft.net, among others, as an original source. The Theatertreffen-Blog’s media partners include the Berliner Zeitung, EXBERLINER, 3sat/Kulturzeit, kultiversum.de, Theater der Zeit, ZEIT ONLINE and blogger Mary Sherpe from stilinberlin.de as well as Johanna von Stülpnagel from redenswinger.de/blog. These partners have given staff support to the blog editorial team and its work by releasing journalists from work to act as mentors, media support in terms of linking, and content support through their own reviews and postings.
From 2011 to 2015 the Theatertreffen-Blog was funded by the Rudolf Augstein Foundation. Since 2016 the Theatertreffen-Blog has been funded by Stiftung Presse-Haus NRZ.
The Theatertreffen-Blog was founded in 2009 by Nikola Richter, who was its head until 2013. In 2014 and 2015, Bianca Praetorius took over this position. From 2016 to 2021, Janis El-Bira was head of the Theatertreffen-Blog. In 2022, Antigone Akgün and Ozi Ozar took over the conception and editing of the project. The 2023 Theatertreffen-Blog will be headed by Antigone Akgün in close cooperation with Zofia nierodzińska.
