Located in the centre of Berlin, the Volksbühne is a theatre rich in tradition. With the start of the 2017/2018 season, Chris Dercon and Marietta Piekenbrock assume artistic direction. As a theatre that has gone through historic and aesthetic upheavals, it is now setting itself new challenges to become a theatre without borders.
Since it first opened, the Volksbühne has had a strong focus on the development and impact of new forms of theatrical productions. Built in 1914 by the architect Oskar Kaufmann, the Volksbühne am Rosa Luxemburg Platz seats over 800 people. Its construction was financed solely by donations from members of the Verein Freie Volksbühne (Association for a Free People’s Theatre) with so-called “workers’ pennies”. Throughout its history, the Volksbühne has been shaped by directors, authors and artists who constantly challenge the boundaries of classical spoken theatre - names like Max Reinhardt, Erwin Piscator, Benno Besson, Heiner Müller, Frank Castorf, Christoph Schlingensief are intrinsic to the theatre.
The Volksbühne is home to theatre, dance, performance, music, cinema, visual arts and digital cultures, but at its core is a reflection on the contemporary, the future of theatre and on new relationships between forms, disciplines and practices. Artists from Berlin, Europe and the world are invited to contribute to an ever-evolving urban society.
In addition to the main stage and the Roter and Grüner Salon at Rosa Luxemburg Platz, the Volksbühne will now include a flexible satellite theatre on the grounds of the historic Tempelhof airport. Volksbühne Fullscreen, the theatre’s digital stage, represents an experimental platform for artistic work that reflects the relationship between art, society and digital media.
Driven by the vision of an open, cosmopolitan community, the Volksbühne is emphatically committed to the theatre’s founding principles, which have been a driving force of theatrical change since the beginning of the 20th century. Art for the people.
