Round table German contemporary theater

A dialogue between Charlotte Orti / Staatsschauspiel Dresden, Florian Borchmeyer / Schaubuehne Berlin, Gábor Thury / Steirischer Herbst

Coordinated by Tom Mustroph

A title that is also a provocation: does it still make sense to define the theatrical landscape of a given geographical area through a language or nationality, and in this specific case German? What are the forms and performance languages that most characterize the productions of these territories and for what reasons? What are the distinctions between the public and independent scenes? What are the differences with the theater system we know in Italy?

A dialogue between curators, artistic directors and artists, starting with the theatrical scene in their own countries to compare different experiences and better understand the theatrical context in which we live, asking what we can learn from our neighbors to improve it.


The round table is in English

Charlotte Orti von Havranek is artistic director of the European festival for young directors Fast Forward at the Staatsschauspiel Dresden. After studying German language and literature, philosophy and art history at the University of Hamburg, she worked as a dramaturge for dance and theatre at municipal and state theatres in Greifswald, Kassel and Braunschweig. She gained experience with the development of numerous theatre productions and projects and in international co-operation. Since 2011, she has coordinated the Fast Forward festival curated by Barbara Engelhardt. In 2018, she also succeeded Engelhardt as curator.

Florian Borchmeyer was born in 1974 in Wasserburg am Inn, Germany. He studied literature in Berlin, Havana and Paris. In 2006, he became a Doctor of Philosophy, with a dissertation on the chronicles of the discovery of America. Also in 2006, he was awarded the Bavarian Film Award for the documentary Havana – The New Art of Making Ruins. In 2011, he began working at the Schaubühne as a dramaturg, was head of dramaturgy there from 2013 to 2019, and is now a curator of Schaubühne’s Festival International New Drama (FIND). He is a filmmaker, a literature critic, curates the international programme at Filmfest Munich, and is currently writing a book about the history of love and the origins of European love poetry.

Gábor Thury (born 1990, Budapest, Hungary) is a dramaturge, curator, and theatre maker. He works in the field of theater and performance with a special focus on the sociopolitical aspects of theater, as well as collective and participatory formats. His work as a production dramaturge has taken him to various theaters and festivals throughout Europe. Since its foundation, he has continuously collaborated with the Hungarian theater collective STEREO AKT. After completing his studies in Budapest, Thury worked as an assistant dramaturge at Thalia Theater Hamburg between 2015 and 2017. Besides participating in productions as a dramaturg, he co-founded and managed the “Embassy of Hope” Café International, an encounter space and transcultural platform. From 2018 to 2021, he worked as a dramaturge at the Lucerne Theater, where he was part of the programming team. Since 2022, Thury has been a curator at Steirischer Herbst, an interdisciplinary and international festival of contemporary art in Graz, Austria.

Tom Mustroph works in Berlin and (sometimes) Palermo as a freelance author for theatre, fine arts and sports, as well as a dramaturg and occasionally as a curator. He is primarily interested in how self-responsible work can be achieved elegantly and in compliance with minimum moral standards. He publishes for, among others, taz, FAZ, Neues Deutschland, NZZ, zeit online, Theater der Zeit, Radsport-News, Deutschlandfunk and WDR. As a dramaturg he worked among others with ORPHTHEATER and Hans-Werner Kroesinger and is currently a member of the site specific vertical theatre group Grotest Maru. He is also part of the board of trustees of the artistic residence venue Schloss Bröllin e.V.