In 2020, FITZ Stuttgart, Schaubude Berlin and Westflügel Leipzig formed the »Alliance of International Production Centres for Figure Theatre«, a network for artistic cooperation.
As three of the largest houses for freelance figure and object theatre in Germany, each partner has its own distinctive profile. They share a desire for artistic innovation and interdisciplinary formats as well as sustainable and fair production conditions.
As an alliance team, our goal is to create synergies and combine forces – both internally and in cooperation with local, national and international leaders of the scene. With joint projects, formats for exchange and the promotion of young talent, we want to contribute to advancing the genre of figure and object theatre.
Together we dare more!
Founding paper
For more information take a look at the founding document of the Alliance.
The production centres
FITZ The Theatre of Animated Forms
FITZ The Theatre of Animated Forms is one of the European centres for puppet theatre and has been a formative part of Stuttgart’s cultural scene for almost 40 years.
At present, the FITZ is showing about 40 different productions from regional, German and international puppet theatre companies each season. That means – spread over the evening programme and the children’s programme – over 280 entertaining, inspiring and exciting performances per year!
About two thirds of these are performed by artists from the region, most of them graduates of the Figure Theatre Department of the Stuttgart State University of Music and Performing Arts.
In addition, the FITZ has also made a name as a promoter of promising theatre productions. This commitment has been rewarded with numerous awards in theatre competitions, scholarships and invitations to festivals at home and abroad.
The FITZ is institutionally supported by the Cultural Office of the City of Stuttgart.
Schaubude Berlin
Since 1993, the Schaubude Berlin has been an anchor institution for the city’s independent performing arts as a venue and senate-funded production house. Here, figures and objects are the main actors on stage. In guest performances from Germany and abroad, co-productions, special series and festivals, the house invites you to discover the range of contemporary figure and object theatre and its border areas. In addition to puppeteers, artists from the fields of performance, visual arts, dance or music can be found in the weekly changing children’s and evening programme.
Schaubude Berlin is part of Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH. Tim Sandweg has been the theatre’s artistic director since 2015.
Westflügel Leipzig
Westflügel Leipzig is an international production center for modern puppet and object theatre. In addition to the two theater duos who work here regularly, Wilde & Vogel and Lehmann and Wenzel, Westflügel maintains a permanent working relationship with many artists and is closely linked to the national and international theater scene.
Westflügel’s historically protected art nouveau building has held theater performances since 2003, as well as ball nights, modern dance performances, concerts, exhibition and more, the focus being on object theater and puppetry. Westflügel takes part in (co)producing and supporting new productions as well as showing international performances.
Since 2011 Lindenfels Westflügel has been institutionally supported by the city of Leipzig. In 2015 the Theaterpreis des Bundes was awarded to Westflügel Leipzig, an award for the quality of its artistic program and its function as a think tank for contemporary puppet theater in Germany.