Sozial-ökologische Transformation des Stadttheaters

The two-semester project takes the form of an artistic, academic, and activist research endeavor that ties into the ongoing discussions about the future of Frankfurt’s “Doppelanlage” for theatre and opera at Willy-Brandt-Platz. According to a resolution by the Frankfurt City Council, the existing buildings are to be demolished and replaced by two new structures. The city is expected to invest at least 1.3 billion euros in this project.

But what might a theatre of the future look like? What will be performed there – and by whom, for whom? Which concept of culture will underlie it? How can its architecture adapt to future needs? And how can it fulfill the promise once made by 18th-century theatre – to be a place where society negotiates its own questions, a site of civic public life?

Since these questions are not being discussed in depth elsewhere in Frankfurt, this year-long project seeks to explore what new forms of municipal and state theatre might be prefigured by different ways of constructing or transforming today’s theatre buildings – and what must be done to create a theatre that becomes a meaningful place for the rapidly changing city of our time.

The project critically and decolonially revisits ideas from the 18th century, asking how the design of theatre buildings, their location within the city, and their connection to purposes beyond theatre art in the classical sense can contribute to strengthening their role for democracy and enabling open discourse within democratic urban structures – and how this role can be redefined for the 21st century.

The chosen format of the project is a collection of letters to the future of the municipal theatre institution. These letters will be gathered from supporters of the “Initiative Zukunft Städtische Bühnen,” architects, urban planners, students, political activists, artists, and representatives of various interest groups in the city, the region, and beyond.

The dramaturgical preparation of the project will take place within the framework of Nikolaus Müller-Schöll's colloquium. For the first part of the project, the artists deufert&plischke will come to the institute in the winter semester to work with the students. A public event is planned for the summer semester of 2026 to present the results and publish them in a form yet to be determined, for which an artist will also be brought to Frankfurt. A collaboration is planned with the HTA, the partner universities/theatre academies of the CDPR (Helsinki, Oslo, Brussels, Paris) and the Initiative Zukunft Städtische Bühnen (Initiative for the Future of Municipal Theatres).