Playing with form
Opera Lab Berlin is an exciting collective that has been subverting genre and form since 2013. Lying somewhere on the boundary of musical theatre, performance art, dance and opera, they create in unexpected ways with a focus on improvisation. In 2023, they will be collaborating with the English Theatre Berlin on their Improvise an Opera piece as well as performing Love and Diversity, which is framed as a speed dating evening.
End of an era
Deutsches Theater’s long-time intendant Ulrich Khuon will step down in 2023, with the institution promising a ‘spectacular’ show to end his time in the hot seat. Other highlights will include Radar Ost 23, a festival about eastern European theatre, and Autor:innentheatertage, one of Germany’s premiere festivals for new writing. Iris Laufenberg, a former Theatertreffen bigwig and current intendant of the Schauspielhaus in Graz, Austria, will take the reins in the autumn.
Dance Dance Dance
Berlin’s contemporary dance calendar is crammed with gems round the year. Sophiensaele’s Tanztage kick things off in January with new performances by co-founder Sasha Waltz. There’s also Constanza Macras’s The Future at Volksbühne, and Toula Limnaois will have new productions. We look forward to seeing more from new comers Grupo Oito, the International collective’s convincing debut at HAU last year. Tanznacht Berlin will turn 25 in September with a bigger lineup than ever before. And the big sibling, HAU’s Tanz im August, will be there to fill the Sommerloch with dazzling international productions under new patronage, as Portuguese Ricardo Carmona takes over from Virve Sutinen.
FIND something new…
The Festival for International New Drama (FIND) at the Schaubühne has always been one of our favourites – and it’s now committed to inviting more performers from outside Europe (think not only the explosive of Angélica Liddell, but also Marco Layera…). 2023 will see the annual festival once more give voices to authors you may not have had the opportunity to experience before, adding some much-needed diversity to Berlin’s highbrow theatre scene.
…that worx
After an impressive range of premieres and standout performances at the Berliner Ensemble, 2023 will see Lithuanian- American director Yana Ross direct her own take on Chekhov’s Ivanov, with special attention paid to the history of the theatre that Brecht and Wiegel founded in the staging. Also continuing will be the impressively accessible WORX series – where you can pay what you want to see productions by up-and-coming directors.