Schöne Vorstellung

In recent years, we have sought out special places and spaces in this city that usually remain closed to the public, so that we may stage theatre performances for you there: from the Matthäikirchhof to the Monument to the Battle of the Nations, from the anatomy theatre at the University Hospital to the agra Messepark Leipzig.
Now we are returning once more to a very special place that made all of this possible in the first place: Schauspiel Leipzig. We will take you to where theatre is created – into spaces normally hidden from the audience: the climate control centre, the under-stage area, the costume store. Places that form the invisible heart of the theatre.

But this heart also beats for the performances, and each performance, in turn, sets the theatre’s heartbeat long before the play begins. “30 minutes to go until the performance!” is a familiar cry in the theatre’s backstage area on the evening of a show, but what happens to ensure the curtain rises on stage? The very heart of the theatre holds many stories, traces and memories, from times both near and far. When, shortly before the play begins, someone says: “Schöne Vorstellung!” / “Have a wonderful performance!”, it is more than just a greeting backstage. It is a wish, a ritual, a promise: a special world will open up for you.

On the way to the performance, you will experience far more than just 30 minutes – we will travel back years and decades, telling tales of theatre history and theatre stories, of moments of success and moments of failure, of real and imagined dreams. And when we finally say “Schöne Vorstellung!” that evening, that’s when it begins, perhaps differently than expected, but with the entire ensemble and with you.

The artistic direction of this production is in the hands of Falk Rößler, Hubert Wild, and Salome Schneebeli. Falk Rößler most recently developed a production at Schauspiel Leipzig for the ag(o)ra on the grounds of the agra Messepark Leipzig “Die Gläserne Kuh. Inspection of the agra Agricultural Exhibition 1981”. Hubert Wild has appeared on several occasions in productions at Schauspiel Leipzig as a singer and actor (including “Wolken.Heim” and “Die Rättin”) as well as directing “Cabaret” and “Lazarus”. Choreographer Salome Schneebeli directed, among other things, the world premieres of Giorgio Ferretti’s “America” and Raphaela Bardutzky’s “Altbau in zentraler Lage” in the Diskothek, as well as “Bernarda Alba’s House” on the Main Stage this season. Hugo Gretler was Head of Set Design at Schauspiel Leipzig from 2013 to 2024 and has shaped the theatre’s visual identity with numerous set designs. Stefan Kaegi, also part of the group “Rimini Protokoll”, is an expert in research-based productions and performances in unusual venues. His production “Société Anonyme” was staged at the Residenz.