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Philophobia

Intergalactic Cruising in the Dark Forest
by Heiki Riipinen and Ensemble
Directed by Heiki Riipinen

In his first production at the Münchner Volkstheater, director and performance artist Heiki Riipinen gathers those stigmatized by society as “different” around a campfire. United in a newfound sense of solidarity, they attempt to overcome their fear of love so they will no longer be alone. Everyone in this strange community of shared fate brings their own story of the desire for connection and its failure.

The world premiere will take place on September 25, 2026, at 8 p.m. at the Münchner Volkstheater.

DER ABEND VOR DEM DANACH (The Night Before the Lifetime After)
by Lisa Wentz

Eine Dinnerparty in der Villa eines wohlhabenden Finanziers wird zum Schauplatz einer sich langsam zuspitzenden Konfrontation: Luca, ein ehrgeiziger junger Banker, erscheint mit seiner Frau Irene, um mit seinem Chef Gabriel einen Deal zu feiern – doch Gabriels geheimnisvolle neue Freundin Alexandra hat ganz eigene Pläne für diesen Abend. Während Höflichkeiten in Konfrontation umschlagen, zerlegt Alexandra methodisch die Männerwelt aus Verleugnung, Geld und gegenseitigem Schutz.

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 has her down plans for this night. Over the course of the evening, as pleasantries curdle into confrontation, Alexandra methodically dismantles the men’s world of denial, money, and mutual protection.

The world premiere will take place on September 12, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. at the Schauspiel Frankfurt (Kammerspiele).

COSÌ FAN TUTT*E

Directed by Martina Gredler

MACBETH nach William Shakespeare

Regie: Rieke Süßkow
Bühne: Mirjam Stängl
Kostüme: Sabrina Bosshard

Written around 1606, MACBETH intertwines historical events with supernatural elements, inner conflicts, and a glimpse into the depths of human depravity. Rieke Süßkow draws on elements of character and object theater to link Shakespeare’s dark work—which explores the fragility of civilizational facades and the psychological deformation caused by power—with the visual worlds and aesthetics of online gaming. Every twist in the power struggle affects Macbeth and his wife. And each of their actions changes the world. Until madness sets in.

The premiere will take place on September 10, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Volkstheater Wien

DER TOLLSTE TAG

by Peter Turrini
Directed by Anna Stiepani

Beaumarchais’ comedy was already considered a political scandal as early as 1784. Peter Turrini radically rewrote it in 1972 and asked himself: What happens when comedy can no longer save us?
The portrayal of an elite that abuses the women under its control is shockingly relevant today.

The premiere will take place on September 5, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Theater in der Josefstadt (Kammerspiele) in Vienna.

FEJK (FAKE)

Written and directed by Yael Ronen

A feminist podcaster whose marriage is currently imploding in spectacular fashion. An aging Swedish pop star who insists he’s Spanish and is desperately trying to hold on to his youth—and to his much younger boyfriend, who wants to figure out who he really is. A self-help icon who has built an empire teaching others how to rewrite the stories of their lives, while perhaps not having quite as much control over her own. And two young journalists who practice radical honesty in their relationship and discover that if reality doesn’t suit you, you can always create a better one.

In FEJK (FAKE), acclaimed writer and director Yael Ronen turns her sharp comedic gaze on a world where everyone is busy constructing the best possible version of themselves. What begins with small adjustments to one’s own reality evolves into false identities, staged scandals, questionable truths, and very human emotions. If we’re all just performing ourselves anyway—what actually makes one self more real than another?

FEJK (FAKE) is a biting comedy about love, class, identity, self-optimization, AI, and our increasingly creative approach to the truth.

The world premiere will take place on September 5, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at the Dramaten in Stockholm.

The City of Cologne has awarded the residency grant at “Atelier Galata” in the field of visual arts to Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay. International exchange is of central importance to the City of Cologne as a hub for art and culture, and the residency in Istanbul helps to deepen the long-standing city partnership and sustainably strengthen the local art scene through artistic networking.
Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay has been selected as a fellow at “Atelier Galata” for the months of August and September.

From the jury’s statement:
“In the essay film *Cairo, Hagen, Istanbul*, Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay uses the film *Minyeli Abdullah* (Abdullah from Minya)—part of the “White Cinema” movement—as the starting point for a cinematic exploration. The film traces a cycle of translation and transformation processes from Cairo, through Istanbul, to Hagen: From an originally Turkish narrative, through its translation into the form of a martyr’s tale set in colonial Egypt, to its reception and ideological interpretation within the Turkish diaspora in Germany. Istanbul serves as the central space of translation and is at the heart of the investigation. The Jury She impressively explored the complex interweaving of historical, theological, ideological, and media-theoretical narratives in a personal reflection on experiences of powerlessness and the longings of the Turkish diaspora.”

MAKE LOVE NOT WAR.
A (ONE NIGHT) STAND-UP SHOW

by and with Orit Nahmias

In her stand-up show, which premiered at the Maxim Gorki Theater, Orit Nahmias explores the fear of death and the joy of life. With brutal honesty and self-irony, she delves into the tangled intersection of love, sex, trauma, and politics—fully aware of the explosive nature of these topics.

The guest performance will take place on June 27, 2026, at 6 p.m. at the Oval Office at Schauspielhaus Bochum. 

A BEE IN THE HEART OF HER

Written by Sibyl Kempson
Directed by Sibyl Kempson and Daniel Brunet
Original Music by Robert M. Johanson (Nature Theatre of Oklahoma)
Performed by Sibyl Kempson, Robert M. Johanson and Daniel Brunet

Henrik Ibsen created some of the most famous female characters in theater history. But what would these women say if they were no longer bound by his text and could finally tell their own stories?
Over the course of a weaving workshop for recovering Ibsen women, Nora, Hedda Gabler, and other heroines come together to tell their own versions of the story. They confront mistranslations, misunderstood origins, mistaken fates, mansplaining and everything their author, in their opinion, got wrong.
Somewhere between a concert, a comedy, and a feminist reimagining of the theatrical canon, Sibyl Kempson lets Ibsen’s characters break free from their roles and reinvent themselves.

The world premiere takes place on June 24, 2026, at 8 p.m. at the English Theatre Berlin.
Additional Performances: June 25–27, 2026.

MOZART. SCHWARZENEGGER. HITLER

A musical performance by Isabella Sedlak

Direction and Concept: Isabella Sedlak
Music: Thomas Moked Blum

“Mozart. Schwarzenegger. Hitler.”—three names that symbolize Austria. This musical and theatrical performance brings Mozart into the present day: somewhere between TikTok and the Rococo era, a figure emerges who is at once a genius, a pop star, and an exploited individual.
Writer and director Isabella Sedlak and musician Thomas Moked Blum interweave Mozart’s melodies with Jewish, Arab, and Latin American traditions—in a style that is grotesquely humorous, highly political, and a declaration of love for Mozart as a transcultural artist in a state of perpetual remix. As one of four winning productions from the “To the Edges” directing competition at the National Theater Mannheim, the musical performance will have its world premiere as part of the Mannheimer Sommer festival.