News

Together with Marie Lina Smyrek (script) and Jana Döhlinger (director), Canberk Köktürk (script) receives the 2026 Grimme Prize for smypathisch – die show (btf for ZDF/funk) in the Entertainment category.

In the interview show “smypathisch – die Show”, host Marie Lina Smyrek meets prominent guests from the fields of politics, music, television, and social media, who have to face confrontational questions and mini-challenges.

From the jury’s statement:
“smypathisch – die Show” is the funniest “funny interview show” currently available in the German-speaking world. It is a particularly successful and groundbreaking combination of television craftsmanship and internet culture.

The Grimme Prize is considered one of the most prestigious awards for outstanding television and television-like productions in German-speaking countries.

The award ceremony for the 62nd Grimme Prize will take place on April 24, 2026, in Marl.

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

Orit Nahmias is coming to Hanover with her new stand-up show, which premiered at the Maxim Gorki Theater and in which she 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 as part of the Universen festival will take place on March 12, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Cumberlandsche Bühne (Niedersächsisches Staatstheaters Hannover).

DER FISKUS (The Treasury)

by Felicia Zeller (excerpts)
Directed by Natalia Sinelnikova

Natalia Sinelnikova’s fast-paced and highly comical production of DER FISKUS (The Treasury), which premiered at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, is coming to the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam as a guest performance!
The setting for the action is a tax office, where employees have to deal with letters of complaint, incorrectly filled out forms, and stapled receipts, leading to internal conflicts that escalate into absurdity.

The performances will take place on March 10 and 12, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. in the Reithalle Box of the Hans Otto Theater.

BIRTH FACTORY. AN ELECTRONIC-BAROQUE CONCERT PERFORMANCE

By and with Anke Retzlaff
Text by Kathrin Liess

Following its huge success during the Schall&Rausch festival at the Komische Oper Berlin, the Neuköllner Oper is presenting the production once again.

Performance dates: March 10–12, 2026, at 8 p.m.

 

FOMO
Liebeserklärung an die Angst unserer Zeit (“Declaration of love to the fear of our times”)

by Ran Chai Bar-zvi
Director & Stage Design: Ran Chai Bar-zvi
Video art: Adam Kaplan

FOMO – “fear of missing out” – is a phenomenon of our time, which is characterized by constant pressure to optimize and increase productivity. Am I missing out on something? Isn’t the life of others, as I constantly see it, much more exciting, productive, simply better than mine? What else do I need to do? Why am I not part of it? Am I not interesting enough?
In his first work in Austria, author, director, and stage designer Ran Chai Bar-zvi uses tongue-in-cheek humor to declare his love for an omnipresent feeling and transfer it to the theater: from the Dunkelkammer, he lets us peek with fascinated concern at the big stage, the beating heart of the Volkstheater. But perhaps the real jewel is to be found in the small Avenue after all?

The world premiere takes place on March 5th, 2026, at 8 p.m. at Dunkelkammer (Volkstheater Wien).

DIE EINGEBORENEN VON MARIA BLUT

Play based on the novel by Maria Lazar
Stage adaptation and directed by Martina Gredler

The idyllic village of Maria Blut with its pilgrimage chapel is a few hours by train from Vienna. It is the 1930s, the era of the corporate state and civil war, Dollfuß is chancellor, and the inhabitants of the “Austrian Lourdes” are in turmoil. The canning factory closes, and the boss, Schellbach, tries to persuade the population to invest in his new product, Raumkraft. Many give their last savings for it. When Schellbach shoots himself during a folk festival, a tremendous dynamic develops: the alleged culprits are quickly found—and it becomes extremely dangerous for them.

The premiere will take place on February 26, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt.

AUTOMATENBÜFFET 
A play in three acts with a prologue and epilogue by Anna Gmeyner

Director: Elsa-Sophie Jach
Costume Design: Belle Santos

The Jewish author Anna Gmeyner, rediscovered only a few years ago – she was forced into exile by the Nazis in 1933 – tells the story of the big world in miniature in Automatenbüfett. While Mrs Adam tries to keep her vending machine restaurant running, Mr Adam pursues his supposedly revolutionary economic vision, which is supposed to serve the good of all. However, with the appearance of the unknown Eva, the eternal order of the small town begins to falter.

Belle Santos is one of the most exciting costume designers and performance artists. She has worked with directors such as Ran Chai Bar-Zvi, Leonie Böhm, Lucia Bihler, and Satoko Ichihara.

The premiere will take place on February 13, 2026, at 8 p.m. at the Marstall, Residenztheater Munich.

DAT WASSER VUN KÖLLE ES JOT

A Rhine crime thriller with music
in cooperation with CORRECTIV by Calle Fuhr
Director: Calle Fuhr

Water evokes emotions. For the Cologne soul in particular, it is more than just an elixir necessary for biological survival: numerous myths and stories lie beneath the surface of the Rhine, and no other German body of water has been sung about as much as the Rhine. The title of the play is taken from a famous line in a song by the Cologne band Bläck Fööss. But how clean is the Rhine?
Interwoven with Rhenish folk songs, Calle Fuhr tells a Cologne crime story that reveals uncomfortable facts about the water quality of the Rhine with the help of explosive research findings from the investigative media company CORRECTIV.

The world premiere will take place on February 7, 2026, at 8 p.m. at Depot 2, Schauspiel Köln.

WIR TÖTEN STELLA (KILLING STELLA)

Based on the novella by Marlen Haushofer
In a theatrical adaptation by Jakab Tarnóczi
Director: Jakab Tarnóczi

Following his staging of the Austrian premiere of Rutherford & Sohn, for which he was nominated for the Nestroy Prize in 2025, Jakab Tarnóczi is staging his second work at the Schauspielhaus Graz with his adaptation of the novella Wir töten Stella (Killing Stella).

The premiere will take place on February 6, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Schauspielhaus Graz.

VERRÄTER (TRAITORS) by Lisa Wentz

Jo is a teenager, she lives with her family in a Tyrolean village and has to see the pastor regularly. He appeals to her conscience, wants to lead her back to the right path – all because Jo fell in love with a young woman last summer leaving her mother deeply worried. The whole story is a scandal, even a sin in the narrow provincial mindset. Will Jo be able to emancipate herself in her quest for freedom and happiness?

The world premiere takes place on February 2, 2026, at 8 p.m. at the studio of Landestheater Linz.