News

Calle Fuhr receives the Dr. Otto Kasten Prize 2026!

The prize was awarded as part of the conference of the German Theatre Association (Deutscher Bühnenverein), with this year’s focus on “Theatre as a Democratic Space.” It honors theatre makers and scenic designers who experiment with the opening of space – both literally and figuratively.

From the jury’s statement: “Calle Fuhr’s theatre creates democratic spaces of experience: with great precision of content, he opens up stages for ambivalence and public debate. His productions enable encounter rather than separation – making theatre a place where social conflicts can be negotiated together.”

WAR AND PEACE. A stage essay about Russia, Ukraine, and compulsory military service
by Calle Fuhr in cooperation with CORRECTIV

A production by Schauspiel Köln

In his new stage essay, Calle Fuhr addresses the question of what a contemporary security policy might look like. Does Germany need conscription again? Or is the new armament simply excessive? In search of answers, he examines the history of Vladimir Putin, the corruption surrounding the Nord Stream pipelines, and Russia’s strategies to harm Western democracies.

The guest performance as part of the Autor:innenTheaterTage 2026 will take place on June 13, 2026, at 8:30 p.m. at the Deutsches Theater.

MEIN KLEINES PRACHTTIER

Based on the novel by Lucas Rijneveld
Translated from the Dutch by Helga van Beuningen

Directed by Leonie Böhm
Costume Design by Belle Santos

FRANKENSTEIN based on Mary Shelley

Directed by Anna Stiepani
Junges Theater

Anna Stiepani reimagines the classic tale in which a scientist becomes a victim of his own ambitions and the lines between creation and self-determination blur, using the timeless myth of Frankenstein to explore the question: What makes us human?

The premiere takes place on May 30, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at Theater im Werftpark at Theater Kiel.

ZIRKUS KAFKA

by Roy Chen
translated by Matthias Naumann
Music: Thomas Moked Blum

In Roy Chen’s play, commissioned by Schauspiel Frankfurt, the characters from Kafka’s last text demand their place in history. They are four circus performers—not particularly successful, but undeniably unique. They reflect the sacrifices that art demands of artists: Must artists always go hungry? How much must the monster called the audience be fed before it is satisfied? Where is the line between the stage and private life? Is it even possible to make art without sacrificing one’s own life for it?
In this collaboration, Germany-based director Dor Aloni and Israel-based author Roy Chen delve into the universe of Franz Kafka and discover characters who, in grappling with their art, explore questions of morality, fame, identity, and belonging.

The World Premiere takes place on May 22, 2026, at 8 p.m. at Schauspiel Frankfurt (Kammerspiele).

FINITE
A music theatre piece by Asia Ahmetjanova and Franziska Angerer

World Premiere on May 10, 2026, as part of the Munich Biennale in Munich
A co-production of the Munich Biennale and Deutsche Oper Berlin

Stage & Light Design: Mirjam Stängl
Costume Design: Sabrina Bosshard

Following its world premiere in Munich, the music theater production FINITE is now coming to Berlin. It explores our relationship with death and how we deal with our own decline. Through a group of elderly people, the audience is confronted with the reality of their own mortality and old age, with all its associated connotations. Through poetic imagery, a communal ritual emerges—somewhere between mythology and performance—that seeks a joyful surrender to this ultimate consequence of life.

The Berlin premiere will take place on May 22, 2026, at 8 p.m. at the Tischlerei at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

As part of the official opening of the PLUG & PLAY Theater Festival for Young Directors on May 14, 2026, the Carl Zuckmayer Work Scholarship from the Ministry of Family, Women, Culture, and Integration was awarded for the third time at the Staatstheater Mainz.

She is receiving the scholarship—which aims to promote contemporary European drama and honor the memory of the political playwright Carl Zuckmayer—for the concept of a new play titled Pech entkommt man nicht. Ein Aufstiegsmärchen (loosely based on Frau Holle). The new play will be presented to the public in a reading during the next PLUG&PLAY Festival.

“With Lola Fuchs, this year’s recipient of the Carl Zuckmayer Work Scholarship is a young playwright, actress, and director who impresses with her great artistic independence and a keen sense for social issues,” said Minister of Culture Katharina Binz in her tribute to the award winner.

As part of the WORLD VOICES Festival at the Martin E. Segal Center in New York, there will be readings of texts by Penda Diouf and Marius von Mayenburg, each followed by a discussion with the authors.

4:00 pm (EDT): Penda Diouf – JULIUS
English Translation by Amelia Parenteau

7:00 pm (EDT): Marius von Mayenburg – ELLEN BABIĆ
English Translation by Daniel Brunet

Veranstaltungsort: Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA

ANFÄNGE (Beginnings)

Concept & Direction: Ayla Pierrot Arendt

In her interdisciplinary musical-theatrical three-part work, which she developed and produced with a team of European and international artists for the KI Festival at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, Ayla Pierrot Arendt explores the conditions and meanings of a beginning—as a promise, as a rupture, and as a consequence. In three acts, we experience three dystopian (or utopian?) worlds that confront us with the end of the world as well as with the question of a new beginning. What does paradise actually look like? What awakens hope in us? Does every ending also hold a beginning?

The premiere takes place on May 16, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at the Staatstheater Darmstadt (Großes Haus).

Additional performance on May 28, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.

Die österreichische Autorin Lisa Wentz ist mit einer Lesung ihres neuen Stücks DER ABEND VOR DEM DANACH zu Gast beim WORLD VOICES Festival am Martin E. Segal Center in New York.

DER ABEND VOR DEM DANACH (THE NIGHT BEFORE THE LIFETIME AFTER)
von Lisa Wentz
Englische Übersetzung von Daniel Brunet

A dinner party at a wealthy financier’s villa becomes the stage for a slow-burning reckoning: Luca, an ambitious young banker, arrives with his wife Irene to celebrate a career-defining deal with his boss Gabriel — but Gabriel’s mysterious new girlfriend Alexandra turns out to be a woman Luca raped five years earlier. Over the course of the evening, as pleasantries curdle into confrontation, Alexandra methodically dismantles the men’s world of denial, money, and mutual protection, while Irene — caught between loyalty, fury, and self-preservation — ultimately cannot or will not act.

Die Lesung des Stücks findet am 11. Mai 2026 um 18:30 Uhr im Martin E. Segal Theatre Center (365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA) statt. Followed by a talk with Lisa Wentz and Frank Hentschker and reception.

For more information about the event, click here.