“Change the world, it needs it”

by Christine Wahl

Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth in conversation with Christine Wahl about the 2024 Theaterpreis des Bundes  

Ms. Roth, a jury of experts has selected four theaters from dozens of applications to receive the 2024 Theaterpreis des Bundes. You have a professional background in theater yourself, do you agree with the decisions? 

It wasn’t easy to choose the winners from the many very good applications. The distinguished jury really didn’t make it easy for themselves when making their decision, with very lively discussions in four long sessions. The result reflects the vibrant diversity of theatrical creation in Germany. I was therefore very happy to follow the experts’ suggestions. 

The formats and aesthetics of the award-winning theaters are diverse; the artistic directors of Schwankhalle Bremen, for example, which won this year’s main prize, describe their theater as a place where “shanty choir, boat ballet and contemporary performance meet.” What kind of theater appeals to you the most? 

I’m a passionate and frequent theatergoer. And I have experienced so many delightful moments in the theater in so many different locations and theaters that I can’t really make a decision about this. That’s exactly what I love about theater: the great diversity that constantly provides surprises, new insights and experiences. 

This year is the second time that you are presenting the Theaterpreis des Bundes – which was established by your predecessor Monika Grütters – and you’ve made some modifications. For example, in addition to a main prize, there are three specific awards for different forms of theater and structures, namely independent production houses, private theaters and theaters hosting guest performances as well as municipal and state theaters. How have these changes worked out? 

The Theaterpreis des Bundes is still about recognizing the diversity of theater in Germany. We continue to focus in particular on theaters outside the major cities. As a result of the realignment we undertook last year, the Theaterpreis des Bundes has become an “innovation prize.” Innovative strength is now a decisive criterion. This development has met with an extremely positive response, so it was the right decision. 

Claudia Roth steht am Pult.
© Dorothea Tuch

Another point is that, under your aegis, the award is apparently going to be presented annually instead of biennially – which will certainly help to increase the symbolic capital of the performing arts. What does the prize mean to you as Minister of State for Culture, what position does the theater hold in your ministry? 

In principle, the federal government is not responsible for the fantastic and diverse theatrical production in Germany. According to our constitution, this is the responsibility of the municipalities and federal states. Nevertheless, theater has a high priority in federal government’s cultural policy: Among other things, we finance the Berlin Theatertreffen, the summit meeting of German-speaking theaters, and support numerous theater artists in their work through various programs. The Kulturstiftung des Bundes, which we finance, also has several funding programs from which the theater scene benefits greatly. 

The Theaterpreis des Bundes is very important to my ministry and to me. I have worked hard to ensure that this award can be presented in three consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025) during my term of office. And I am delighted that it has been possible to issue an additional call for applications for 2024. This is a great success, especially in these extremely difficult budgetary times – and a sign of appreciation for the theater as an artform. 

What does theater mean to you personally? 

I’ve always been a big theater fan. Even as a young girl, my parents, who had a theater subscription, often took me with them when they went to a performance. Later, I worked at the Landestheater Schwaben in Memmingen as an assistant dramaturge and director. And then I dropped out of my studies after the second semester for a job at the Städtische Bühne Dortmund and so went straight into practice. I worked there as a dramaturgy assistant in the drama department and in dramaturgy in the children’s and youth theater. The director was Peter Möbius, Rio Reiser’s older brother. After that I was active in Unna with the Hoffmann’s Comic Teater. During my time in the Ruhr region, I was completely immersed in the world of theater. That time had a huge impact on me, and my great love of the theater has remained to this day. 

The requirements for applying for the Theaterpreis des Bundes are extensive; according to the call for entries, it is looking for “an outstanding program … that is characterized by convincing aesthetic-artistic development in contemporary issues of (urban) society, multi-perspective audiences, ecological and social awareness and/or technological-digital innovations.” Which of these requirements is particularly important to you? In the end, does the world champion in theater digitalization, the aesthetic stage innovator, the multi-perspective or the ecologically mindful have the best chances? 

I have already described the difficult and lengthy decision-making process. The assessment is never about individual criteria that are weighed up against each other. Instead, it is always the overall view in the context of the other applications and the award criteria that counts. The decisive factor here is an aesthetically and thematically interesting and innovative overall program. The dialogue with the local audience is also important. 

The Theaterpreis des Bundes is naturally accompanied by one-off financial support for the winning theaters. Is there any way to make the things initiated by the prize money permanent? 

With the Theaterpreis des Bundes, we want to encourage the theaters to dare to experiment and implement innovative programs. The prizewinners also undertake to use the prize money for further artistic work or to improve artistic production conditions. In this way, the Theaterpreis des Bundes provides concrete support for local theater work. The award gives the winners the opportunity to break new ground, bring current topics to the stage, create spaces for encounters and exchange and ensure lively diversity through local art. 

The Theaterpreis des Bundes is primarily a prize for “theaters that are otherwise not at the center of nationwide public attention” – in other words, it’s primarily intended to recognize important work done in regional spaces. With your hectic schedule as Minister of State for Culture, how often do you even manage to go to the theater yourself – and then do you manage to get away from Berlin, for example, where you work, and beyond the “metropolises”? 

Since I became Minister of State, my schedule has become even busier than before – so, unfortunately, I can’t go to the theater as often as I would like. I generally enjoy going to the Berlin theaters, but also the theater in Augsburg, the Nibelungen Festival and many others. Sometimes there’s an opportunity to see plays after the opening of festivals, where I normally have a role as Minister of State and politician. I consider it a great privilege to have this opportunity. 

Which evening at the theater – no matter where – did you think about the longest recently and why? 

I thought about one evening at the theater for a particularly long time: The play “And Now Hanau,” a co-production of the Münster and Oberhausen theaters with the Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, in cooperation with the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. It’s not a classic play, but a kind of documentary theater which cannot leave anyone unmoved in light of the failures of the authorities before, during and after the far-right murders in Hanau. The production succeeds in exposing the gaps and shortcomings in our democratic constitutional state in close connection between the audience and the actors. 

The 2024 Theaterpreis is being awarded at a time of global crises and tightening budgets, in which culture is also coming under increasing financial pressure. With the draft budget for 2025, the German government is planning cuts compared to the previous year’s budget, especially in the field of the independent arts. What is the current thinking in the Ministry of Culture about this issue?  

The extremely strained budgetary situation overall is also reflected in the cultural budget. 
We have been able to achieve great successes for the independent scene in the budget over the last few years. We have increased funding by over 30 million euros compared to the pre-pandemic period – that’s around 45%. This also includes the Theaterpreis. 
The independent theater scene not only benefits from the many institutions that receive direct funding from the federal government. The Kulturstiftung des Bundes and the Hauptstadtkulturfonds, both of which are funded by the federal government, also play a very important role for the independent scene. There are also the grants for German artists abroad and the awards we fund for publishers, bookshops and cinemas – this is another way in which federal cultural policy supports the independent scene. 
The government’s draft budget was adopted this year after long, exhausting and difficult discussions. The draft was subject to more constraints than any budget in the last 10 years. Even now, there is still an unprecedented billion-euro funding gap. Parliamentary deliberations on the budget are now underway, with a decision scheduled for November. My ministry and I will continue to fight for culture and especially for the independent scene – and we need the support of the cultural scene to do so. I have invited the Bündnis internationaler Produktionshäuser (Alliance of International Production Houses) and the Bundeskulturfonds to a discussion. Politicians and the cultural scene must now pull together. 

Can you think of an artist or a group who, in your opinion, sums up our times particularly well? 

I’ve been a big fan of Bert Brecht since my youth. Especially now, in these turbulent times, when crises are overlapping and right-wing populist and far-right parties are winning elections in Germany and Europe, his poems and plays really resonate with me. His words “Change the world, it needs it” have always been my motto in life – and these words get to the heart of the state of our world. 

  

The interview was conducted in writing, editorial deadline: September 10, 2024