Top-class theater art in Frankfurt and Offenbach

• fromAnja Laud

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The “Theater der Welt” festival will come to the Main in 2023. It presents groundbreaking developments in theater, dance and performance.

Theater fans can look forward to a very special event. Because Frankfurt and Offenbach have managed to attract the “Theater der Welt” festival. Matthias Wagner K, director of the Museum of Applied Arts, called this the “Documenta des Theaters” yesterday.

The “Theater der Welt”, which presents groundbreaking developments in theater, dance and performance from all continents for two weeks every two to three years in another city in Germany, is to be held in both cities from June 29 to July 16, 2023 become.

Frankfurt and Offenbach prevailed against three other cities in the application process of the German center of the International Theater Institute (ITI), which had launched the “Theater der Welt” for the first time in 2023. The theater, the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and the Museum Angewandte Kunst had applied for the region as equal partners with a jointly developed concept. Their respective directors, Anselm Weber, Matthias Pees and Matthias Wagner K will also take over the festival directorship together.

Joachim Lux, President of the ITI Center, justified the award for Frankfurt and Offenbach with the fact that both cities depicted exactly the internationality and diversity that should be the focus of the 2023 festival edition. Both come under pressure due to the strengthening of nationalism and right-wing populism and must also be defended on an artistic level.

Profit for the urban space

Frankfurt’s head of culture, Ina Hartwig, welcomed the decision for Frankfurt and Offenbach. “This is an advantage for urban areas and a strengthening of the democratic public,” she said. In addition, the involvement of the Museum of Applied Art as a third partner alongside drama and the Mousonturm was particularly gratifying. According to ITI President Lux, this is an absolute novelty and corresponds to the cross-divisional thinking in the arts. The Museum of Applied Arts is to become a performing arts center for the duration of the festival.

Offenbach’s Mayor Felix Schwenke spoke of “inspiring news” for his city and the region. He emphasized that Offenbach did not have a state or city theater, but it did have a diverse cultural scene, including small professional theaters, and an elite institution with the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG). Frankfurt and Offenbach should not function as two adjacent festival cities with a divided program, but should be artistically presented. Both cities hope for new impulses from the “Theater der Welt” even after its end.

The cost of the alignment is estimated at 4.4 million euros. So much was planned for the Festival 2020 in Düsseldorf, according to Mousonturm director Pees, which had to be postponed to 2021 due to the corona. Around a third of the basic funding is to be borne by the federal government, the state of Hesse and the host cities. Acting director Weber said that a circle of friends had already been founded to attract sponsors.

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