Bertolt Brecht, Remarks at the Fourth German Writers’ Congress, Berlin, 1956
© Bertolt Brecht’s Heirs / Suhrkamp Verlag GmbH, Berlin; Adademie der Künste, Berlin, Bertolt Brecht Archive 1646/43
Station 25: Beusselstraße
Little Theatre
In January 1956, only a few months before his death, Bertolt Brecht opened his contribution to a discussion at the 4th Congress of German Writers in Berlin with a demand for “Theaterchen” (“little theatres”). By this the theatre maker meant small, mobile collectives of professional and amateur actors who could be politically effective without a fixed venue.
Inspired by the agitprop tradition, Brecht imagined flexible groups that could reach their audiences with short, cabaret-like programmes, for example by performing in railway station concourses or in car parks. The material they would use would not be abstract, but would address specific, local themes chosen from the everyday lives of the people. As local groups, these “Theaterchen” would be directly connected with local politics and should engage with themes and conflicts that concerned people in the neighbourhood. By comparison with large, cumbersome theatre organisations, these “small, mobile troupes” would be able to work in much more direct and agile ways – reacting quickly to local circumstances without the distractions of lengthy preparation and production processes. Brecht saw the potential that these “Theaterchen” could arise autonomously, “triggering themselves, as it were” anywhere at any time. Brecht’s concept of “Theaterchen” remained unrealised. It is now impossible to determine whether this was due to his early death or to his role as the director of an official cultural institution.
Portrait, Bertolt Brecht, 1956
© Bertolt-Brecht-Erben / Suhrkamp Verlag GmbH, Berlin; Academy of Arts, Berlin, Bertolt Brecht Archive 1646/43, photo: Gerda Goedhart
Bertolt Brecht, Remarks at the Fourth German Writers’ Congress, Berlin, 1956
© Bertolt Brecht’s Heirs / Suhrkamp Verlag GmbH, Berlin; Adademie der Künste, Berlin, Bertolt Brecht Archive 1646/43
For What If Berlin, Akira Takayama transposes unrealised projects from the archives of the Berliner Festspiele and other Berlin cultural institutions, as well as from architects and artists, into the present and asks us which vision we want to realise in the future.
The future vision for the project Theaterchen, that will be presented in the frame of What If Berlin from 28 August 2026 onwards, will respond to the following question: What if Ringbahn became 27 theatres?
Which of the 27 visions for the future is the most exciting? Which project does Berlin need in future? Which idea should actually be realised?
Until 30 September 2026, you can vote for up to three of the 27 visions for the future. The results will be displayed live to give the latest impression of the public’s reactions.