Pleasures & Politics of Autonomy – Theater between Resistance and Responsibility 

Symposium accompanying the Theaterpreis des Bundes
Pleasures & Politics of Autonomy – Theater between Resistance and Responsibility

Theaters need freedom in their artistic activities and in the development of their structures. Such freedom arises when they are given the opportunity to be self-determined and autonomous. But what does it mean to be autonomous as a theater? Does self-administration also mean having more leeway at a structural level? And would that mean planning an aesthetically daring program without raising social expectations that go beyond a pure “artistic experience”? 

In keynotes, discussion formats and a panel discussion with this year’s award winners, the potentials of an autonomous theater will be explored and at the same time possible danger spots will be identified. Pleasures; that is, the pleasure of devoting oneself to the stubborn, ambivalent and unknown – of being artistically autonomous. Politics; that is, the challenge of creating legal and political framework conditions in which these kinds of autonomous free spaces can emerge, which in case of doubt also resist the grip of authoritarian and reactionary political forces. And both culminate in the question of how a socially committed theater can grow without being reduced to its functionality. 

Program

10:00 – 11:00 am

11:00 – 11:15 am

Greeting & introduction

11:15 – 11:30 am

11:30 am – 12:00 pm

12:00 – 1:15 pm

1:15 – 2:00 pm

Lunch break for all

2:00 – 2:15 pm

Choral Interlude

2:15 – 3:15 pm

3:15 – 3:30 pm

Short break

3:30 – 4:00 pm

4:00 – 5:00 pm

Documentation

The panel discussions was and made available in the form of a video documentation www.iti-germany.de.