Theater of the Assembly

The Theater of the Assembly between Education, Science and Art (TdV) is a Bremen- based theater ensemble under the artistic direction of Jörg Holkenbrink . It emerged in the early 1990s from a model experiment by the Federal and State Commission for Educational Planning and Research Funding and has been affiliated with the Center for Performance Studies at the University of Bremen since 2004 . The Theater der Versammlung is one of the first research theaters in Germany and has since held an innovative position not only in the Bremen theater scene.

Working method

The main focus of his practical-aesthetic way of working is the investigation of scientific-theoretical content using the means of the performative arts. Questions of academic research and teaching thus become the object of artistic debate. Operating between science and art is a conceptual part of all productions. For this purpose, the Theater der Versammlung often works with project ensembles in which cooperation with students and university professors is desired, who bring their specialist knowledge to the staging processes and, conversely, receive performative skills from actors and directors. In addition, all productions have close contact with the public. The Theater der Versammlung promotes exchange with its audience in a special way ; every performance has an audience stage on which the audience has the opportunity to exchange ideas with members of the ensemble.

Another focus of the Theater der Versammlung lies in the design of new forms for academic event formats. For this purpose, the ensemble develops event dramaturgies that operate on the basis of artistic encounters. The focus here is not on the transfer of knowledge, but rather on the specific quality of encounter and exchange.

The Theater der Versammlung accepts orders for production requests and event dramaturgies from university departments and non-university organizations such as professional associations , schools , companies , health centers, cultural institutions, etc. In principle, any department at the University of Bremen can become a member of the Center for Performance Studies in order to then commission the theater of the assembly to work on a scientific topic in a performative manner. At the moment these are the departments of mathematics / computer science, production engineering, social sciences, cultural studies, language and literature studies, and educational sciences. This interaction between science and art is a model in the academic landscape of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Prices

In 1993 the Theater der Versammlung received the Berninghausen Prize for excellent teaching and innovation in the university sector .

Productions (selection)

• On a silk thread - what does life have to do with death? Performance evening in cooperation with trauerraum Bremen
• C copy A, encrypted! Click performance to change communication and perception in an ever faster time.
• Chekhov - A game of land field research among Chekhov people in exile, participant observation in times of globalization
• Dine with the misanthropist Buffet performance on cultural capital and subtle differences, according to Molière in selected restaurants
• Minne 2000 A German lesson for lovers and crazy people
• Brecht for Managers - A Soul Training Investigations on Work in the Future
• Is Hamlet a team player? Improvisations on the philosophy of failure
• The Clavigo game University tours with Goethe figures
• You can see that at Blick performance evenings as part of the special exhibition You. Self. Naked. Paula Modersohn-Becker and other artists in self-act, Museum Böttcherstraße , Bremen

literature

• Jörg Holkenbrink: '' Lying, stealing, training - on the working method of the theater of the assembly between education, science and art. '' In: U. Eberhardt (Hrsg.): '' New impulses in university didactics. Linguistics and literary studies. '' Wiesbaden 2010, pp. 299–308. Also in: M. Bülow-Schramm, D. Gipser, D. Krohn (Eds.): “Stage free for research theater.” Oldenburg 2007, pp. 35–44
• Jörg Holkenbrink / Alice Lagaay, '' Performance in Philosophy / Philosophy in Performance: How Performative Practices Can Enhance and Challenge the Teaching of Theory in Performance matters- the journal '' http://performancematters-thejournal.com, 2016. ISSN 2369- 2537
• Jörg Holkenbrink / Anna Seitz: The subversive power of vulnerability. A dialogue about knowledge cultures and their performances, in: Ingrisch, Doris; Mangeldorf, Marion; Dressel, Gert (ed.) (2017): Cultures of Knowledge in Dialogue - Experimental Spaces between Science and Art. Bielefeld: transcript, pp. 97-110.
• Jörg Holkenbrink / Anna Seitz: “Challenging Formats. Content and Form in Dialogue ”in: Ahmad, Aisha-Nusrat; Fielitz, Maik; Leinus, Johanna; Schlichte, Gianna Magdalena (ed.) (2018): Knowledge, Normativity and Power in Academia - Critical Interventions, Frankfurt / New York: Campus, pp. 137–149.
• Festschrift for Jörg Holkenbrink: Alice Lagaay, Anna Seitz (eds.) (2018). KNOWLEDGE FORMS. Performative acts between education, science and art. Explorations with the theater of the gathering. Bielefeld: transcript.

Web links

• TdV
• Die Welt vom 9 December 1998: When the seminar room becomes a stage
• Der Tagesspiegel of December 29, 1999: An experimental stage in Bremen plays in the middle of life

Individual evidence

1. ↑ University of Bremen: Prize for good teaching , accessed on May 9, 2014.
2. ↑ Local office Blumental: Sattelhof torn from sleep , North German, September 19, 2013, accessed on June 2, 2014

Coordinates: 53 ° 6 ′ 25.1 ″  N , 8 ° 51 ′ 14.5 ″  E