Under the umbrella of Hessian Theatre Academy (HTA), all universities in Hessen that offer theatre-related programmes as well as the region’s municipal and state theatres have come together in a study and production network. Diverse cross connections between both practical and theoretical disciplines, as well as between partners, are opening up new opportunities for students to prepare themselves for the complexity of an artistic career.

On the death of HTA-founding-member Hans-Thies Lehmann

With deep sadness we have been informed about the death of our former colleague Hans-Thies Lehmann. Lehmann was one of the founding members of the Hessian Theater Academy, whose conception and development he had a lasting influence on until his retirement in 2010, with great mediation skills and a sharp mind. In the 1980s, Lehmann was a research associate at the newly founded Institute for Applied Theater Studies at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen; from 1988, he was a professor of theater studies at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt/M., where he also founded the master's program for dramaturgy in the Hessian Theater Academy network in 2002. With Hans-Thies Lehmann, we are losing a theorist who has inspiringly related the history, present and future of theater and has championed the performing arts, especially in their manifold contemporary forms, attempts and experiments. His observations, ideas and thoughts live on in his numerous publications. As a colleague and mentor, we will miss him deeply.

On the death of HTA founding president Hans Hollmann

With great sadness we have heard about the death of our former colleague Hans Hollmann. As professor of directing at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main, Hans Hollmann initiated the founding of the Hessian Theater Academy in 2002, which he subsequently presided over as president for six years. Hans Hollmann led the Academy until his retirement with inspiring commitment and great creative enthusiasm, enabling decisive steps to be taken to improve cooperation between theaters and performing arts programs in Hesse and beyond. His immense experience as a director and doctor of law gave his voice a very special weight in our study and production network. We will miss Hans Hollmann - as an artist, as a dedicated university teacher, as an innovator of teaching in the field of performing arts.

The student-curated & organised lecture series in the summer semester 2022 under the title "Macht ?! Theatre" responds to this year's festival "Politics in Independent Theatres".

Lecture Series SoSe 22: Power ?! Theatre

In German, the word Macht can mean two things: On the one hand it means power in the sense of a position, on the other hand it is at the same time a verb in the imperative, as a call to do something, to make something. The festival motto of "Politik im Freien Theater" is "Macht" and, in the above mentioned German double meaning of the term , focuses on "protagonists and activities that address acute social crises and global challenges in a critical, demanding and also combative manner", according to the announcement text.

The HTA lecture series Macht ?! Theater is based on the assumption that power as an unclear concept must be discussed anew in relation to phenomena and structures, and that possibilities and strategies for action are only articulated in relation to each other by different protagonists and activities. Following the double meaning of the term Macht, four protagonists from institutional, political and artistic theatre work will meet on each of three Thursday evenings to discuss questions of power in relation to their own practices and working relationships and to ask what makes it. The series is dedicated to three thematic complexes: power-critical educational work, power-critical intervention and power-critical curation. On each evening, a reference to local/regional structures will be created.

Further information at: hessische-theaterakademie.de/en/ring-lecture

Two Ottilie-Roederstein-Scholarships from the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts go to students of the Hessian Theater Academy

>> To the press release (in German)

For the first time in 2021, the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts has awarded the "Ottilie Roderstein Scholarships" for female artists and women working in the arts who live or work in Hessen. One of two main scholarships (endowed with up to 70.000,- €) and one of three junior scholarships (endowed with up to 40.000,- €) have been awarded to female students of the Hessian Theater Academy. Minister Angela Dorn presented the prizes to Joana Tischkau, a choreographer from the master's program in choreography and performance at the Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen, and Marie Schwesinger, a graduate of the directing program at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and a master's student in dramaturgy at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, at a ceremony held at the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts on Dec. 17.

HTA Lecture Series Winter Term 21/22: (UN)SETTLED. PERFORMANCE, PROTECTION, AND POLITICS OF INSECURITY

In the radical self-care, anti-discrimination and anti-racist body-based practices of conflict management and healing, settling the body is one of the primary aspects to begin the process of coming back to the body. In performative and dance practices as well settling the body is a crucial moment in working with the body.

The lecture series inquires into different aspects and dimensions of settling in (in the world, in the community, in relations, in environments) as well as different modalities of unsettling the bodies (by lack of protection, because of racism and sexism). It examines the consequences of denying the possibility to move through coercive detention or internation, in order to outline the functioning of current politics of insecurity by its operating on an intimate and visceral level.

More information: hessische-theaterakademie.de/en/ringvorlesung