The name says it all: Since 1990 Festival Theaterformen has been presenting a variety of contemporary theatre productions in Braunschweig and Hanover: everything from huge spectacles to intimate chamber plays, classical dramas, documentary theatre, monodramas and multimedia installations – even forms and formats which don’t have names yet. Over the years the festival has continually reinvented, reoriented and repositioned itself. The programmes have highlighted productions from all continents, as well as innovative theatre makers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. More than half of the 220 productions presented at the festival – up until and including 2012 – have been premieres: world premieres, German-language debuts, German premieres or European premieres. Many projects have been commissioned specially for Theaterformen, or been made possible through co-productions.
Artistic Director of Festival Theaterformen is Anja Dirks since 2009.
Theaterformen 1990 (Braunschweig)
Bernd Kauffmann launched the festival in Braunschweig in November of 1990. Funding came from a state-sponsored program for the East-West German border regions. The thematic focus of the first Theaterformen festival was William Shakespeare. Two of the Bard’s works, in particular, were juxtaposed: The Tempest, a co-production with C.I.C.T (Paris), directed by Peter Brook; and Titus Andronicus, staged by Peter Stein. Smaller productions and a supporting programme of films, videos and performances rounded out the first edition of the festival. Artistic Directors: Bernd Kauffmann & Peter Ries General Director: Mario Krüger (until 1992)
Theaterformen 1991 (Braunschweig / Wolfenbüttel)
The focus of the second Theaterformen festival, part of which took place in neighbouring Wolfenbüttel, was Eastern Europe. Two specially commissioned productions played a central role: the St. Petersburg-based Maly Drama Theatre’s dramatisation of Dostoyevsky’s The Possessed, directed by Lev Dodin; and Nathans Tod (Nathan’s Death), written and directed by George Tabori, as a co-production with the Bavarian State Theatre. In addition, Polish director Andrzej Wajda staged Stanislaw Wyspianski’s The Wedding, Romania’s Silviu Purcarete directed Ubu Rex with Scenes from Macbeth, and Swiss “historical detective” and storyteller Hans Peter Litscher presented Lessing's Blessings.
Artistic Directors: Bernd Kauffmann & Peter Ries
Theaterformen 1995 (Braunschweig, Wolfenbüttel, Hanover)
The Staatstheater Braunschweig’s fire curtain came crashing down, necessitating a last-minute change of venue. This is why Hanover for the first time hosted a production of Festival Theaterformen: The Hanomag-Halle was home to a visually stunning production, Dante’s Divine Comedy, staged by Croatian director Tomaz Pandur. Wolfenbüttel had the honour of being the only city in Germany to host The Seven Streams of the River Ota, one of Canadian theatrical wizard Robert Lepage’s most spectacular productions. Mama!, a musical from Soweto, written and directed by Mbongeni Ngema of Durban’s Playhouse Company, made its European debut at a factory site in Braunschweig. In addition, Anatoli Vassiliev presented Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin with a young ensemble from Moscow.
Artistic Director: Thomas Petz
General Director: Jürgen Flügge
Theaterformen 1998 (Braunschweig / Hanover)
The festival focused on contemporary German directors, with Elmar Goerden (Das Meer war groß), Martin Kusej (King Arthur), Karin Beier (The Tempest) and Heiner Goebbels directing the Ensemble Modern (Eislermaterial, Schwarz auf Weiß). The incredible triumph that off-beat rock musical Shockheaded Peter, by Britons Julian Crouch, Phelim McDermott and musicians Tiger Lilies, enjoyed on the continent started with the European premiere in Hanover. Other productions showed works by Jan Fabre (Belgium), Eimuntas Nekrosius (Lithuania), Johan Simons (the Netherlands) and Forced Entertainment (Great Britain).
Artistic Director: Marie Zimmermann
Schauspiel Hannover Director: Ulrich Khuon (until 2000)
Braunschweig Staatstheater Director: Wolfgang Gropper (until 2010)
Theaterformen 2000 (Braunschweig / Hanover)
With a focus on theatre of figures and of objects, the fifth festival showcased productions from Australia, Canada, Russia, Israel, and Argentina. The smallest show, It’s Your Film, was live cinema; four actors from British theatre company Stan's Café performed in a small booth for one viewer. Run by director, filmmaker and artist William Kentridge, the Handspring Puppet Company came from South Africa to present the Chimp Project. Pina Bausch (Kontakthof) and Belgian choreographer Alain Platel (Allemaal Indiaan) provided insights into contemporary dance theatre. Further highlights included Hamlet, directed by Peter Zadek (with Angela Winkler as Hamlet), and Jean Genet’s The Maids, staged and performed by Ignaz Kircher and Gert Voss.
Artistic Director: Marie Zimmermann
Theaterformen 2002 (Braunschweig / Hanover)
The international program featured Gerardjan Rijnders & Tom Lanoye from the Netherlands (Mamma Medea), Richard Maxwell from the US and groups from Croatia and Argentina, with Joachim Schlömer (La Guerra d’Amore, dance theatre), Christoph Marthaler and René Pollesch representing the German-speaking countries. Works inspired by the fine arts included pieces by David Claerbout and Yang Zhenzhong, and Fred Keleman adapted Ray Bradbury’s classic novel Fahrenheit 451 for the stage. In their project Sonde Hannover, newly-founded formation Rimini Protokoll used binoculars and surveillance cameras to observe the city from above.
Artistic Director: Veronica Kaup-Hasler
Schauspiel Hannover Director: Wilfried Schulz (until 2009)
Theaterformen 2004 (Braunschweig / Hanover)
This year's festival addressed the socio-political issues of fundamentalism and democracy. Lebanese journalist and theatre maker Rabih Mroué contributed two productions (Biokhraphia and Looking for a Missing Employee), alongside Polish director Krysztof Warlikowski (Macbeth) and the English-German performance group Gob Squad (Room Service). German director Frank Castorf made his Theaterformen debut in 2004. The festival also offered a broad dialogue forum, with presentations and discussions featuring thinkers like Zygmunt Bauman, Slavoj Žižek and Antonio Negri.
Artistic director: Veronica Kaup-Hasler
Theaterformen 2007 (Hanover)
Starting in 2007, Braunschweig and Hanover began hosting the festival in turns. This year the programme featured unusual formats, including a theatre circus (Cirque désaccordé from France) and a Brazilian youth project (Afro Reggae). The Australian Back to Back Theatre performed their piece Small Metal Objects on Hanover’s famous Kröpcke square, mixing with the public in the pedestrian zone. Theaterformen 2007 hosted the world premiere of Simon Stephens’ Pornography, a co-production with Schauspielhannover and the Schauspielhaus Hamburg, which was later invited to Berlin’s Theatertreffen festival.
Artistic Director: Stefan Schmidtke
For further information about Theaterformen 2007, please go to the archive.
Theaterformen 2008 (Braunschweig)
For the chorus in the ancient Greek tragedy Die Perser, director Claudia Bosse mobilised over 300 citizens, who were captured in portrait photos by Ukrainian artist Boris Mikhailov. The French Théâtre Dromesko brought a culinary offering with the soup kitchen La Baraque, featuring songs and marionettes; and then there was the walk-in cake served up by Canadian theatre company Théâtre des Confettis. For six hours, Ivo van Hove's actors captivated spectators with Roman Tragedies, a compilation of three Shakespearean dramas. German director Armin Petras also made his festival debut with Dorota Masłowska’s Two Poor, Polish-speaking Romanians.
Artistic Director: Stefan Schmidtke
For further information about Theaterformen 2008, please go to the archive.
Theaterformen 2009 (Hanover)
After a successful opening at the Aegi-Theatre with Aurélien Bory’s Taoub many productions did not take place on conventional stages: Dries Verhoeven’s Niemandsland led through Hanover, Some Things Happen All At Once of Rosa Casado and Mike Brookes took place in the main hall of the new city hall and the Belgian Compagnie Marius located Samuels Beckett’s All That Fall in the Georgengarten at Wilhelm Busch Museum. The Process (Franz Kafka) of Andreas Kriegenburg, Schukschins Erzählungen of Alvis Hermanis and Philippe Quesne’s La Mélancholie des Dragons were great successes. On the Ballhofstages were shown Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea of 1927, City Circus Zero Work of andcompany&Co. with Junges Schauspielhannover, The Rehearsal of Cuqui Jerez, Faustin Linyekula’s More more more... future, Patience Camp of Thom Luz and La Omision de la Familia Coleman von Timbre 4 / Claudio Tolcachir.
Artistic Director: Anja Dirks
For further information about Theaterformen 2009, please go to the archive.
Theaterformen 2010 (Braunschweig)
20 years of Festival Theaterformen! Nevertheless, with the programme 2010 we looked in the future. Several pieces from Buenos Aires focussed on a future society. Under the subject Presence of the Colonial Past theatrical works of Brett Bailey, Boyzie Cekwana and Faustin Linyekula were shown. Discussing the colonial past was – and still is – as significant for the future of Africa as for the future of Europe.
Artistic Director: Anja Dirks
Braunschweig Staatstheater Director: Joachim Klement
For further information about Theaterformen 2010, please go to the archive.
Theaterformen 2011 (Hanover)
At a secret place Festival Theaterformen opened in 2011 with Brett Bailey’s version of Orfeus from Southafrica. Works of Mokhallad Rasem (Iraq), Omar Ghayatt (Egypt), Lina Saneh and Rabih Mroué (Lebanon) and Amir Reza Koohestani (Iran) belonged to the main focus Middle East. The pieces Pièce pour la technique du Schauspiel de Hanovre of Phillipe Quesne and Anna Rispoli’s L'Invenzione dell' Ascensore in the Dutch Expo-Pavilion were specially produced for Festival Theaterformen. The Ship O’ Fools of Janet Cardiff and Goerge Bures Miller runnned aground in front of the Opera. And in the opera-house Velma from Switzerland played Velma Superstar. Beyond that Elevator Repair Service from New York, Béla Pintér and Comagnie from Hungary, Toshiki Okada (Japan) and Massimo Furlan (Switzerland) showed their new pieces in Hanover.
Artistic Director: Anja Dirks
Schauspiel Hannover Director: Lars-Ole Walburg
For further information about Theaterformen 2011, please go to the archive.
Theaterformen 2012 (Braunschweig)
The opening for the 13th Edition of Festival Theaterformen was the piece100 Percent Braunschweig of Rimini Protokoll. 16 contemporary theatreproductions were shown in eleven days. 140 artists from twelve countries were part of the Festival. Home Sweet Home, the installation of british artistduo subject to_change, became a total crowd puller. Many visitors not only came to build their own houses but also came back constantly to discuss about public spaces, about an atomic power plant which was built in the south of Braunschweig or about the International Kindergarden. Also the other productions of „You are the city“ were very much liked including Domini Públic – Public Space by spanish artist Roger Bernat and Izlog – Shop Window by Bobo Jelčić, Nataša Rajković from Croatia. Many productions which played in smaller theatres like Miet Warlop’s Springville from Belgium or Look a the Streets ... this is what hope looks like of Syrian artist Omar Abu Saada were even sold out before Theaterformen started. And also the artists who had shown their plays in the big house of „Staatstheater Braunschweig“ – like Forced Entertainment’s The Coming Storm or Christoph Marthaler’s Meine faire Dame or Rimini Protokoll with 100 Percent Braunschweig – played in front of packed houses.
Artistic Director: Anja Dirks
Braunschweig Staatstheater Director: Joachim Klement
For further information about Theaterformen 2012, please go to the archive.