Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz

The Volksbühne in the centre of Berlin has existed since 1914. It was established as a result of a grassroots people's movement. Erwin Piscator, in the 1920s, and Benno Besson, in the 1970s, had a huge influence on the theatre. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Frank Castorf became director- general. He turned it into perhaps the most successful, but certainly the most controversial theatre in reunified Germany. With it's paradoxical objectives to be élitist and populist, eccentric and appealing to the masses, it simultaneously radiates a mood of awakening and the awareness of futility; it tears down the classical limits of the theatre, but also confirms them is a reflective way. The Volksbühne's image is characterised by Frank Castorf's seismographic investigations into the present and his multimedia novel adaptations, by Christoph Marthaler's monuments of standstill, Christoph Schlingensief's theatre- blasting actions and, since last season, by works of René Pollesch, the paradoxical- critical director of turbo- capitalism. But also the regular theory, music, literature and film events, as well as the ”Thematic Weekends”, which all contribute to Volksbühne's ”concept of expanded theatre”, are integral components of this theatre. With its turn to virtual venues on the Internet and its start of film productions, the Volksbühne is gradually becoming a small but ambitious media firm.

---

Contact Information

Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz
Linienstrasse 227
10178 Berlin-Mitte

Tel. +4930240655