How to Make a Life

In September 2026, Mousonturm will devote an 18-day focus to the often neglected topic of age(ing).

The programme highlights international and intergenerational perspectives. It responds to demographic change: noticeable in this country through the retirement of the baby boomers, and in the Global South through the precarious living conditions of young societies. Premieres and first performances by renowned artists from the worlds of dance, performance and theatre, guest performances, participatory and cross-genre formats promote empathy, dialogue and a change of perspective.

Among other things, Wen Hui is developing a dance piece with women aged 60 and over about the body as an archive; dance pioneer Deborah Hay is presenting a new solo piece that challenges the boundaries with the audience; Faustin Linyekula joins a 75-year-old former dancer on a search for traces of the first National Ballet in Zaire, and Samara Hersch brings young and old together around the theme of sexuality and the internet. The programme responds to debates about demographic change with sensual and aesthetic experiences and questions normative ideas about youth and performance. Women in Frankfurt can participate directly and indirectly in numerous projects. The project aims to reduce the gap between generations and prevent the marginalisation of both older and younger people.

Programme

Neue Frankfurter Stadtteilküche
von: andpartnersincrime
Essen & Trinken, Begegnung, Mitmachen
17. September – 04. Oktober 2026

How to Make a Life Eröffnung
Begegnung, Party
17. September 2026

wir / us
von: Wen Hui & Living Dance Studio
Tanz
17. – 19. September 2026

Performance Club – The Lesser Told Story
von: Deborah Hay
Tanz, Performance
17. – 27. September 2026

Frankfurt (Photodump) – The Lesser Told Story
von: Tim Etchells
Performance
18. – 20. September 2026

Sex_Death_and the_Internet
von: Samara Hersch and Company
Performance
19. – 27. September 2026

Workshop mit Tim Etchells
von: Tim Etchells
Workshop, Performance
19. September 2026

Christiane Rösinger
Konzert, Lesung
22. September 2026

Kitchen Parliament
Gespräch, Mitmachen
23. + 28. September 2026

The Dialogue Series V: Maman Wawina – Lesser Told Story
von: Faustin Linyekula
Tanz, Performance
25. – 27. September 2026

Nocturne (Parade)
von: Compagnie Non Nova – Phia Ménard
Theater, Große Bühne, Junges Publikum, 8+
26. und 27. September 2026 

Vaters Garten – die Liebe meiner Eltern
von: Peter Liechti
Film
29. September 2026

Wie gelingt ein Leben? Ein Buchclub-Talk
Gespräch, Mitmachen
30. September 2026

MONUMENT 0.7: M/OTHERS – The Lesser Told Story
von: Eszter Salamon & Erzsébet Gyarmati
Performance, Tanz
02. Oktober 2026

KID. 8+/18+
von: Jetse Batelaan/Theater Artemis, hetpaleis und BOG.
Theater, 8+ 18+, Junges Publikum
03. und 04. Oktober 2026

Age is Cool
von: Wen Hui
Tanz, Workshop
03. Oktober 2026

Scènes de vie (Szenen des Lebens)
von: Danya Hammoud in Zusammenarbeit mit David Oppetit
Performance
03. und 04. Oktober 2026

How to Make a Life Closing- Party mit Antje- Maya Hirsch 
Party
03. Oktober 2026

Mothers & Daughters – The Lesser Told Story
von: Eszter Salamon
Video, Lesung
03. Oktober 2026

Workshop für Mütter und Töchter (Englisch) – The Lesser Told Story
von: Eszter Salamon
Workshop 
04. Oktober

The Künstler:innenhaus Mousonturm is a theatre that opened in 1988 as one of the first independent production houses in Germany. Today, it is internationally regarded as one of the most important and successful independent production centres for independent theatre.