Projects

Decentralised conference on the now and tomorrow of figure theatre

What do production houses and artists need in order to be able to work in a pioneering way? Does theatre journalism have a future? And what is this figure theatre anyway, what does it aspire to be tomorrow?

The »Alliance of International Production Houses for Figure Theatre« – FITZ Stuttgart, Schaubude Berlin and Westflügel Leipzig – invites you to a decentralised conference with analogue and digital talks, lectures, workshops and artistic contributions from 3 to 5 December 2021. The conference will take place simultaneously in all three cities. Some events will be online and can thus be followed regardless of location.

The conference marks the end of the EXTEND project year, in which the alliance has worked together on current challenges and engaged in close exchange.

EXTEND is funded by the Performing Arts Fund as part of #takenote with means from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. 

Information & Programme (in german)

Documentation (in german)

Initiative for further development, networking and strengthening of puppet theatre

With EXTEND, Westflügel Leipzig 2021 is going on the offensive: needs analysis, exchange, continued professional development. EXTEND is looking for new potential for production venues of figure theatre, for solutions to current problems, for forward-looking impulses. In close cooperation with FITZ Stuttgart and Schaubude Berlin, it offers formats for professional audiences, experts and the general public.

EXTEND focuses on networking the people working »backstage« as well as the people »in front of the stage«. The focus is on the further development of one’s own working methods and the deepening of discourses that arise directly from current work, in order to bundle current possibilities and to unfold new reaches, insights and potentials of the art form of figure theatre.

»EXTEND – Initiative for Further Education, Networking and Strengthening of Figure Theatre« is funded by the Performing Arts Fund with means from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

The online regulars’ table brings Stuttgart, Berlin and Leipzig together for a counter talk. Artists, staff and the public are cordially invited – current topics are discussed, chats are had and toasts are offered. Born out of necessity, since the ongoing ban on theatre plays also means that exchange and encounters fall by the wayside, the online regulars’ table will continue to exist as a permanent event due to its popularity.

FITZ Stuttgart, Schaubude Berlin and Westflügel Leipzig will therefore continue to invite you to an evening together in the months to come.

In January and February 2021, we shared Fridays with artists who gave insights into the work that should have taken place – now the format is changing to a monthly rhythm on different topics. Short impulses and insights open the evening, followed by chatting and philosophising, as usual at the theatre bar. After artistic research was the focus in March, special formats for small audiences will be discussed in the coming months. We will explore the question of how international cooperation succeeds – even in times of Corona. And we will shed light on structures and working methods in search of the production centre of the future.

The meetings take place online and are free of charge, but the number of participants is limited – registration for the evenings is therefore necessary.

Latest information and registration

From mid-2021, the monthly regulars’ table for up-and-coming figure theatre will be a place where young puppeteers, students and graduates of the various universities as well as career changers can get to know each other and exchange experiences, visions, questionable university policies and fears about the future. In addition, there will be space to show each other work in progress as well as the results of current projects and to talk about them on a peer-to-peer basis.

Every month there will be one main topic. The regulars’ table is moderated and organised by a working group consisting of students and graduates from the universities in Berlin and Stuttgart. This working group collects topics and invites experts (veterans of the scene) to talk about particularly scary and obscure topics (funding, tax, first-time engagement, etc.) in order to give the new generation the opportunity to benefit from their mistakes and experiences without restraint.

The meetings take place online and are free of charge, but the number of participants is limited – registration for the evenings is therefore necessary.

Latest information and registration

My heart almost stood still

This sentence was written by Helen Keller, a blind and deaf author (1880-1968). Written in a letter to the New York Symphony Orchestra, whose concert broadcast of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony she felt on the radio with her hand on the membrane.

What Helen Keller describes is an encounter with art that is at the core of art and culture and is currently only possible to a very limited extent due to the closure of cultural venues. Why this touch is so important and what is missing when it can no longer be experienced with other people is difficult to describe.

Not out of nostalgia, but to get closer to the relevance of art and culture and to share about it, the Alliance started in December 2020 a collection of personal descriptions of cultural experiences that almost made the heart stand still or made it race, that uplifted, connected, moved or excited – enlightenments and revelations!

Here is the complete collection of personal art experiences.