Theater der Welt 2026 opens in Chemnitz – Indigenous perspectives and international co-productions

The festival will open at the opera house with a German premiere: "Split Tooth: Saputjiji" by Tanya Tagaq. Eröffnet wird das Festival im Opernhaus mit einer Deutschlandpremiere: "Split Tooth: Saputjiji" von der Tanya Tagaq. The piece takes the audience to the Arctic and tells the story of a young person shaped by the overwhelming power of nature and an indigenous community that is falling apart. Inuit throat singing can also be experienced on stage. "Ein besonderer Fokus liegt auf indigenen Stimmen und Perspektiven," the festival management said.

At the center of the more than 30 productions from around the world are global themes such as origins, identity, and power relations. Die Stücke behandeln dabei globale Themen wie Herkunft, Identität und Machtverhältnisse. The program includes music theater, drama, performance, and puppet theater. More than 30 international productions bring the "Theater der Welt" festival to the city's stages. The program was developed by nine international curators. Das Festival soll künstlerische Perspektiven aus aller Welt zeigen und findet alle drei Jahre statt. … Das Programm wurde von neun internationalen Kuratorinnen und Kuratoren entwickelt.

Global Themes on Stage

Among the highlights is a German-Chinese co-production: Alfred Döblin's novel "Berge, Meere und Giganten" will be brought to the stage under the title "Luftmasse". According to the information provided, the visual concept comes from the artist Ai Weiwei. The Czech production "Amadoka" takes up Sofia Andrukhovych's novel trilogy, in which a century of Ukrainian history is told through the stories of three women. The pop opera "Nkoli: A Fierce & Fabulous Life" tells the story of anti-apartheid activist and pioneer of the lesbian and gay movement Simon Nkoli.

Representatives of the Nukak – a people from the Amazon region – are involved in an immersive theater production ("Vortex Nukak"). The production "Kuste" is about the Ainu in northern Japan – and how modern infrastructure projects affect their way of life. Under the title "Kafka's Ape," Phala Ookeditse Phala and the actor Tony Bonani Miyambo present an adaptation of Franz Kafka's "Bericht für eine Akademie" ("Report to an Academy"). In the production "Blur," visitors can move through artificially created worlds.

The Playhouse as a Temporary Gallery

In parallel with "Theater der Welt," the art festival "Begehungen" transforms the city's abandoned playhouse into a gallery for contemporary art. The building, opened in 1980, has stood empty for several years and awaits renovation. Under the title "In der Vorstellung" ("In the Imagination"), it is now once again being used by the art festival "Begehungen." Each year, the festival transforms abandoned places into temporary galleries. Works by contemporary artists such as Hito Steyerl, Jana Gunstheimer, Veneta Androva, Cindy Sherman, Danica Dakić, and Martina Pinosa will be shown. Curator Claudia Tittel formulates the aspiration: "Wir leben in einer Zeit, in der Bilder nicht nur Wirklichkeit zeigen, sondern Wirklichkeit erzeugen".

Program for Families and Free Admission

The program also offers its own formats for families and school classes. "Paper Planet" is a participatory performance by Polyglot Theatre from Australia, aimed primarily at families and school classes, and takes place in the Hartmannfabrik. According to the information provided, the puppet theater piece "Stream of Memory" from Indonesia is suitable for families and comes entirely without spoken words. At the center is the giant Kali, the keeper of memory and witness to a world in transition. No admission is charged for the French puppet theater "La Boule Bleue" on Theater Square.

Several productions are accessible free of charge. Admission is also free for the dance performance "Shintai to Shintai" by Yoko Ando at the Hartmannfabrik. The video installation "In a Strange Place" at the Spinnbau will be shown on nine screens arranged in a circle. In doing so, the festival also offers low-threshold encounters with international contemporary art beyond the traditional stages.

More than 30 productions from around the world can be experienced in the city from 18 June to 5 July. After the opening at the opera house, the program is spread across numerous other venues. With the location of Chemnitz, which was in the pan-European cultural spotlight the previous year, the festival aims to build on the attention this generated and to further establish the city as a venue for international contemporary art.