1.03.2025 European premiere: MCNEAL by Ayad Akhtar at Burgtheater Vienna

MCNEAL (dt. DER FALL MCNEAL)
by Ayad Akhtar
German translation: Daniel Kehlmann
Director: Jan Bosse
Starring Joachim Meyerhoff as Jacob McNeal

Jacob McNeal is a successful, unscrupulous writer almost manically hoping to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. His liver is failing, his son is threatening him with a public scandal and his fascination with artificial intelligence could shut down his career.
In his new play, Ayad Akhtar questions the machinations of the literary world and the influence of AI on his profession as a writer and reflects on the issues of greed, power and intellectual appropriation.

The European premiere will take place on March 1, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at Burgtheater Vienna statt.
Information & tickets

14.02.2025: World premiere SIRENS CALL by Lina Sieckmann & Miri Ian Gossing, 75th Berlinale

SIRENS CALL
Directors, screenplay: Lina Sieckmann & Miri Ian Gossing
Production: filmfaust
DE, NL, 121 min, 2025

In their feature-length debut, Miri Ian Gossing and Lina Sieckmann dive into the merfolk subculture with performance artist and mermaid Una. Genre elements, fiction and documentary, self-care, political activism and self-chosen identities flow into one another.
Dates & tickets

15.02.2025: World premiere for HYSTERIA by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, 75th Berlinale

“Hysteria” is the name of the film that knocked many out of their seats at the Berlinale. And finally catapults its director and author Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay into the ranks of the most exciting young cinema talents.“ – Carolin Ströbele, ZEIT (quote orig. in German)

HYSTERIA
Director, screenplay: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Production: filmfaust
105 min, DE, 2025

When a burned Quran is found on a film set, the shoot takes a dark turn and the crew are thrown into turmoil. Caught in the crossfire, an intern, Elif, is drawn into a dangerous game of secrets, accusations and lies…
Dates & tickets

14.02.+16.02.2025: BIRTH FACTORY Performance w/ texts by Kathrin Liess is part of Schall-und-Rausch-Festival

BIRTH FACTORY – an interdisciplinary concert performance about giving birth and being born
as part of the Schall-und-Rausch-Festival of the Komische Oper Berlin

Between intimacy and social appropriation: together with musicians Peter Florian Berndt (lute, electronics) and Dominik Tremel (harpsichord, electronics), Anke Retzlaff (viola da gamba, performance) embarks on a radically sensual journey with texts by Kathrin Liess and testimonials from women in childbirth to explore one of the most primal themes: birth. On the border between club night and performance, baroque and electronics, text and original sound, pregnant bodies become a dance floor for society.

February 14, 2025 at 8:30 p.m.  &  February 16, 2025 at 9:00 p.m.
In SchwuZ Queer Club, Rollbergstraße 26,12053 Berlin

14.02.2025: World premiere THE BARBARIANS by Jerry Lieblich at Ellen Stewart Theatre, NYC

THE BARBARIANS
by Jerry Lieblich
Director: Paul Lazar

Imaginative, hilarious, word-drunk, THE BARBARIANS  examines power of words and words of power: what makes an order legitimate? Who proclaims a King and what is a substance of a King’s speech as such? Is it the declaration of war or the war itself — what if a President declared a war, but the words wouldn’t work?

Sara Holdren, theater critic at Vulture, listed The Barbarians as one of 18 plays and musicals to see in this upcoming season!

The world premiere will take place on February 14, 2025 at Ellen Stewart Theatre, New York.
Information & tickets

1.02. & 2.02.2025: Guest performance KEIMZELLEN by Rébecca Déraspe at Staatsschauspiel Dresden

KEIMZELLEN (orig. Les Gametes) by Rébecca Déraspe
German translation by Gerda Poschmann-Reichenau
Director: Michael Steindl

February 1 &  February 2, 2025 – Guest performance of Theater Duisburg at Staatsschauspiel Dresden

Aude and Lou are best friends, and for 35 years they have been able to find solace in each other’s sorrows of all kinds. For example, on Aude’s birthdays, when the ambitious civil engineer has a nervous breakdown every year. Lou – author of a feminist blog – naturally has an explanation for this: fear of ageing in a society where only youth and flawless beauty count. However, this time it’s different: Aude is pregnant. And her foetus has trisomy 21. Lou advises an abortion, Aude wants to keep the baby but doubts about her partner’s support.
The two women argue relentlessly openly about life and their own values – a declaration of love to female friendship.

14.02.2025: Premiere DER TAG DER BÄREN by Ana Trpenoska & les dramaturx at Schauspielhaus Hamburg

THE DAY OF THE BEARS (dt. DER TAG DER BÄREN)
A research trip by Ana Trpenoska
In the company of les dramaturx

Winter of 2023: together with Macedonian author Ana Trpenoska, les dramaturx travel to a national park in North Macedonia to visit one of the largest free-living bear populations in Europe. Once there, several surprises await them…

The world premiere will take place on February 14, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. in the Schauspielhaus Hamburg/ MalerSaal.
Tickets & info

21.01.2025: Premiere OEDIPUS by Ella Hickson at Old Vic London

OEDIPUS after Sophocles
in a new adaptation by Ella Hickson
Directed by Matthew Warchus and Hofesh Shechter
at the Old Vic

The Oracle of Delphi proclaims the prophecy: “Find and punish the murderer of the old King Laius – then all will be well!”. The murder is an unsolved case and the people turn to the new King Oedipus, the man who solved the riddle of the Sphinx, to hunt down the perpetrator and bring salvation. He vows to succeed at all costs, and so begins an unstoppable hunt for the truth through a labyrinth of fear and love.

The world premiere takes place on January 21, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Vic London.