Thikwa Theater

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Theater Thikwa is a free theater in Berlin-Kreuzberg . Thikwa is Hebrew and means hope in German . At Theater Thikwa, people with and without disabilities do theater and art together. It was founded in 1990 as Thikwa e. V. and has been running a joint venue in the Mühlenhaupthöfen together with the English Theater Berlin since 2006 .

In the Thikwa workshop for theater and art , as sponsor of the Thikwa e. V. and the Nordberliner Werkgemeinschaft gGmbH have been cooperating since 1995, all artistic projects, such as theater productions, exhibitions and performances, are generally developed jointly by artists with and without disabilities.

History and organization

founding

In 1990 the history of Thikwa began with the establishment of Thikwa e. V. with the aim of promoting joint artistic work by people with disabilities and non-disabled artists. Initiated by Christine Vogt were the main founding members Hanna Näter, Gerlinde Altenmüller and Matthias Maedebach as well as friends and employees of the Werkheim Zehlendorf. Klaus Altenmüller has been responsible for the theater technology since the first production.

From 1990 to 1993 the first four productions were created as leisure projects. Efforts to professionalize the artistic work of people with disabilities began in 1994. In 1995 the Thikwa theater workshop was founded, which has since been operated in cooperation with NBW gGmbH.

From 1990 to 2001 Christine Vogt, Gerlinde Altenmüller and Matthias Maedebach shared the artistic direction of Theater Thikwa. From 2002 until her death in May 2012, Gerlinde Altenmüller was solely responsible for the artistic direction. Since then the theater has been directed by Nicole Hummel and Gerd Hartmann.

Workshop

From 1995 to 1997 the Thikwa workshop for theater and art started as a model project. Financed by the Federal Ministry of Health, this pilot project was the first such pilot project in Germany. In the workshop, exclusively art was produced all day, 35 hours a week. In doing so, she set herself apart from the common practice at the time of offering artistic work as an accompanying offer to compensate for mostly repetitive activities. In the start-up phase, the Thikwa theater workshop in Oranienstrasse in Berlin-Kreuzberg initially offered artistic jobs for 12 employees with disabilities. The Thikwa motto “The mind cannot be hindered” was placed above the content work. Under this motto, the employees of the Thikwa workshop use the artistic training and exercise opportunities in the areas of drama and dance, handicrafts and graphics, painting and sculpture, which are related here. In connection with artistic working methods and work processes, new methods of qualification, support and rehabilitation have been and are being developed and tested. The number of jobs was increased to 20 by 2010. In October 2011, the workshop moved to larger rooms at Fidicinstraße 3, in the immediate vicinity of the Fidicinstraße 40 venue. This made a further increase in capacity possible. Currently (as of 2018) the Thikwa Workshop for Theater and Art employs 44 artists with disabilities who make up the ensemble of Theater Thikwa.

Venues

Time without your own venue

From 1990 to 2005 Theater Thikwa was solely dependent on guest performances or renting in other venues. In accordance with its claim to be an equal part of Berlin's cultural life, the performances took place from the beginning in established venues such as the Studio of the Maxim-Gorki-Theater , the Academy of Arts, the Theater am Halleschen Ufer , the Podewil and the Sophiensaele .

F40 and F40 studio stage

In 2005 the Board of Trustees of the Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin approved the joint application by English Theater Berlin (ETB) and Thikwa e. V. on funds to develop a joint venue that is barrier-free for the public and artists. In the Mühlenhaupthöfen , Fidicinstrasse 40, a large warehouse was rented and converted, which later became the F40 venue. In addition, a smaller studio was rented at the same location, which was converted into the F40 studio stage with 60 seats. On August 28, 2008, the Great Theater, which can hold up to 120 spectators, was inaugurated. The designation F 40 has not been used since 2016. Both venue partners use their own names in their external presentation. Theater Thikwa puts on between 8 and 10 different productions in 70 - 90 performances every year.

Other things about the Thikwa theater

The most important working principles

The principle of Theater Thikwa is that different people work together - people with and without disabilities and from different artistic genres and cultures. Thikwa is a pioneer of inclusion in the arts. It observes the development of social and aesthetic issues and reacts to them with its artistic work. The productions in drama, language, music, dance, performance and art express both the differences between the participants and their similarities. Theater Thikwa is an artistic experiment with disabled and non-disabled artists and a successful social experiment. Thikwa cooperates with non-disabled artists of all genres for the productions in the theater and the artistic training in the Thikwa workshop. Thikwa performers were also recruited for external productions, both in the independent scene and in state theaters (e.g. Deutsches Theater, Theater an der Parkaue, Grips Theater) as well as in film and television productions.

Cooperations

The Thikwa Theater has been cooperating continuously with national and international groups and initiatives since 2001. This resulted in u. a. the coproductions "Kotchu Ichi Mannen Sai" with the Japanese performance group Taihen, 2001, "The Thikwa plus Junkan Project" with the Dance Box Kobe, 2009-12, "BioFiction" with the Moscow theater studio Kroog II, 2016, and "Dschingis Khan" and "Direction" with the group Monster Truck, 2012/14.

The most important work results

Theater Thikwa has earned a recognized place in the independent theater scene and is now regarded as "Germany's most famous theater in which people with and without disabilities play theater together". Since 1990, over 120 productions and performances have been created, which are shown in Berlin and around the world. Thikwa is invited to individual appearances, conferences and festivals, including KIADA Festival, Seoul, 2017, Danube Festival, Krems 2016, Israel Festival 2016, Politics in Free Theater, 2014, Heidelberger Stückemarkt 2013, Kyoto Experiment, 2012, ProTeatr Moscow, 2005 / 2010. There were also numerous exhibitions and participation in exhibitions by the artists of the Thikwa workshop, also together with artists without disabilities.

Awards

  • 2019 Federal Theater Prize for "the outstanding evocation of social diversity in the theater scene while at the same time enjoying artistic radicalism."
  • 2018 Martin Linzer Theater Prize for "outstanding artistic performance by an ensemble in German-speaking countries"
  • In 1991 Christine Vogt received the Karl Hofer Society's sponsorship award for the Thikwa initiative.

literature

Theater Thikwa / Claudia Lohrenscheit (ed.) "Theater.Rebellion The Expansion of the Art Zone - Theater Thikwa", 2018, Athena Verlag, ISBN 978-3-7455-1019-5

Theater Thikwa productions (selection)

  • 1990/91 It's better to sit standing up - Kaspar Hauser Resonanz; Directed by Robin Telfer / Christine Vogt
  • 1992 Orpheus without an echo; Director: Margot Gödrös
  • 1993 There's a hole in the pot at the end of a love story; Director: Gerd Hartmann
  • 1996 Another part of the forest; Director: Peter Baer (invitation from the Impulse Festival 1996)
  • 1997 room two, child seeks bathroom; Director: Peter Baer
  • 1998 Snow White; Director: Carsten Ludwig / Thomas Seyde
  • 2000 activities; Director: Martina Couturier
  • 2001 Orlando; Director: Martina Couturier (Invitation to the festivals Occupation! 2009, Zurich, Wildwuchs 2009, Basel)
2001 Kotchu Ichi Mannen Sai; Coproduction with Taihen Theater Troupe for the Osaka Theater Festival; Direction: Kim Manri, Gerd Hartmann;
  • 2002 Without Title IV or 2002 - A Space Odyssey 2002; Director: Carsten Ludwig; see Tagesspiegel Berlin: You will no longer be understood
  • 2004 there is blood in the shoe; Director: Gerd Hartmann (invitation to ProTeatr Festival, Moscow)
  • 2005 Maison de Santé; Co-production with the Theater zum western Stadthirschen; Director: Werner Gerber (invitations to festivals Community Arts 2006, Bern; Occupation! 2007, Zurich and others)
  • 2006 Alice's Dream; Choreography: Timothy Golliher
  • 2007 present. Canceled; Director: Gerd Hartmann (invitation to the ProTeatr 2010 festival, Moscow; theater riots 2009, Warsaw and others)
2007 The Aviators; Co-production with the Theater zum western Stadthirschen; Directed by Dominik Bender
2007 Feather, Sea and Nightingale; Direction: Gerlinde Altenmüller, Bente Schmidt
  • 2008 Burning Horse; Director: Elfie Mikesch
2008 Puppetina; Choreography: Timothy Golliher, Ilene Winckler
2008 Kafka at the edge of the language; Co-production with the Theater zum western Stadthirschen; Director: Dominik Bender (invitation to Festival Okkupation! 2011, Zurich and others)
2009 Missing Link; Director: Lukas Matthaei
  • 2009/12 The Thikwa plus Junkan Project; Direction: Osamu Jareo (invitation Kyoto Experiment Festival 2012)
  • 2010 Stabat Mater; Choreography: Alessio Trevisani
2010 Kate; Choreography: Linda Weißig
2010 nosedive; Director: Gerd Hartmann (invitation OBA Festival, Bamberg)
  • 2012 Pankow protocol; Director: Dominik Bender (invitation Festival Grenzgänger, Munich, 2012)
2011 Midsummer Night's Dream; Director: Anke Rauthmann
  • 2012 Cursed the Heart - Shakespeare's Sonnets; Director: Gerd Hartmann (invitation Israel Festival 2016)
2012 Kuuge - sky flower; Choreography: Yuko Kaseki
2012 Genghis Khan; Monster Truck / Theater Thikwa (invitation festivals Heidelberger Stückemarkt 2013, Wildwuchs 2013, Basel, Radikal Jung Munich, 2015 and many more)
2013 free of birds; Director: Ruth Geiersberger
  • 2014 The discreet swarm of the bourgeoisie; Head: Anne Tismer
2014 Subway to heaven; Director: Gerd Hartmann (invitation to the festival boundless culture, Mainz 2015, Grenzgänger, Munich, 2015, Mittenmang, Bremen 2017 and others)
  • 2016 twins; Director: Nicole Hummel (invitation Festival Grenzgänger, Munich 2017)
  • 2017 Silence Impossible; Director: Martina Couturier
2017 origin; Choreography: Yuko Kaseki (invitation KIADA Festival, Seoul, 2017)

Films with and about Thikwa Theater

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ THEATER THIKWA AND THEATER WORKSHOP THIKWA - Theater and theater workshop Thikwa. Retrieved November 5, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Britta Klar: Berlin's “Thikwa” ensemble offers “great theater”. March 5, 2014, accessed on January 7, 2020 (German).
  3. ↑ Thikwa workshop for theater and art - . In: nbw services of all kinds . ( nbw.de [accessed on November 5, 2017]).
  4. ↑ rbb Kulturradio 2016, cit. to http://www.thikwa.de/theater/thikwa_25.html
  5. ↑ Federal Theater Prize 2019. June 11, 2019, accessed on January 7, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Martin Linzer Theater Prize 2018 goes to the Thikwa Theater in Berlin - Theater-News - Verlag Theater der Zeit. Retrieved January 7, 2020 .
  7. ↑ THEATER THIKWA AND THEATER WORKSHOP THIKWA - twins. Retrieved November 5, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Editor: Inclusive theater festival. In: muenchen-wird-inklusiv.de. March 22, 2017, accessed on January 7, 2020 (German).