Thuringia? Your problem!

Hannah Baumann, Pina Bergemann and Lizzy Timmers, nine months ago you were awarded the Theaterpreis des Bundes. What has changed for you since then?

Pina Bergemann: A lot. Our world has turned 180 degrees!

For Theaterhaus Jena, things really took off then: First you were invited to the Heidelberg Stückemarkt and the Berlin Theatertreffen with your ensemble production "Die Hundekot-Attacke," then you won the 3sat-Preis there, the actor Nikita Buldyrski was awarded the Alfred Kerr Acting Award and, and, and...

Bergemann: Yes, it was an incredibly exciting and absolutely fantastic season for our theater – which is not used to being in the limelight so much (laughs). The Theaterpreis des Bundes kicked off this phase, it was the first time the spotlight was turned on us. Perhaps many other things were only possible because of it, who knows.

Lizzy Timmers: It was also a great experience to come from the so-called "provinces," to become part of this theater scene in Berlin and to meet the other winners.

Bergemann: I also think that the prize has sparked something among politicians here in Thuringia. I hope that it will give Theaterhaus Jena support that will endure beyond the season. Because I think it could do with that right now. We don't know what will happen after the state elections in September.

As important as the symbolic capital of the prize is, the award was also accompanied by economic capital. How did you invest the €100,000?

Timmers: This financial boost naturally enabled us to produce in a much more relaxed way, which was great. In the run-up to the season, we were pretty much dragging our feet in view of the increased energy prices and the general rise in production costs. The Theaterpreis money made a lot of things easier.

Bergemann: And it gave us a bombastic farewell here!

It's really crazy: As an ensemble, you put on the season of your life and then you have to stop – because the management changes every six years at Theaterhaus Jena, no ifs or buts. And in your case, your tenure is over right now. So, are you living up to the saying and really going out on a high note?

Bergemann: Don't ask! (Laughter in agreement.)

It's incredibly hard to say goodbye, isn't it?

Bergemann: Yes, absolutely! On the other hand, I have to say: I'd rather leave this way than quietly. In this respect, I can also enjoy saying goodbye, because what we worked for during those six years has really come to fruition. Back then, I came from a permanent engagement in Leipzig and went to Theaterhaus Jena with a great deal of idealism, because I thought: The model that is practiced there is so different – and so good and important! That's why I'm delighted that we're now actually leaving with such a bang.

Indeed, it cannot be ignored: The Jena model has finally become known to all those working in the theater.

Bergemann: It makes me totally happy that this is finally being seen! Until two years ago, I asked myself in every one of the many debates about collectivity: Why is nobody actually asking us? After all, this model has always been practiced in Jena! And then you read and heard about this all the time and maybe even managed to write a timid e-mail at some point, and then the reply was: "Yes, yes, we'll be in touch ..."

Timmers: "Hm, but you can't even get there, you have to change trains in Erfurt and then take the regional train..." (collective laughter)

Could you briefly outline your structure again, just in case there are still some people who don’t know about it?

Bergemann: The most accurate way to describe it is as a semi-collective. After all, there is a clear leadership duo in Lizzy Timmers and Maarten van Otterdijk. I think that's important to mention because it's simply an incredible amount of work: all the day-to-day business, staff meetings, organizational matters and so on. However, the management is advised in all matters by the ensemble council, and together they make the artistic decisions. For example, the ensemble council devises the seasons, then specifies the repertoire in a joint discussion and decides on the casts.

Hannah Baumann: We also discussed the distribution of the prize money in the group: At the ensemble council meeting, everyone was able to say what they were interested in. One person wanted an increase in the props budget for their production, for example, while another wanted an additional musician position. Someone wanted external coaching for a project, someone else an outside eye and someone else a professional recording of their own production.

Were all these wishes fulfilled?

Baumann: Yes. And in addition, we all worked together with dance and theater scholar Anna Volkland on a publication, which includes discussions, materials and an essay on the ensemble model, which was published to mark our farewell: "HOW TO ENSEMBLERAT."

Now it's actually over, your big closing party for the season finale is behind you. What are you taking away from Jena?

Timmers: I came from the Netherlands six years ago and learned a new language here. Now I know that I can even do theater in German – and that I definitely want to stay in Germany for a while.

Baumann: I take something with me that is not easy to describe. I had lived in Berlin for seven years before I came to Jena and I have the feeling that I have found something here that I would perhaps best describe as anachronistic – in an absolutely positive sense. You're not so blatantly part of a certain lifestyle and special discourses here – which quickly become somewhat conformist. So, there isn’t the good café here, where everyone sits, discusses exactly the right thoughts and looks equally good while doing so, but everything is actually a bit uncool – and there is incredible potential in that, because it allows you to take a broader, perhaps in a certain respect, freer view of things.

Bergemann: I thought the audience here was absolutely fantastic and I took away the great experience that you can also reach young people with theater and that you can definitely inspire people with new content and developing plays. We always say that if you're passionate about something yourself, then others are often passionate about it too. The fact that this has been borne out in such a way was unbelievably wonderful.

When you started in Jena six years ago, you had a wonderful inaugural slogan: "Thüringen – kein Problem" (Thuringia – no problem). What is your farewell slogan?

Timmers: I have the feeling that "Thüringen – kein Problem" actually hovered over our entire time here. We wanted to really celebrate it again at the end: this feeling that a certain weirdness is still possible here; an empowerment of people who are somehow different from the mainstream. I think we're also leaving Jena now with the wish: just stay weird and cool, stay this magnet! Because it really is so impressive what a great socio-cultural fabric you can work in here. For such a small city, there's a really cool scene, there's an incredible energy, a kind of create-your-own-village atmosphere. Or how do you see it? What slogan do we leave the city with?

Bergemann: At some point, there was the idea of giving each season its own motto. In the meantime, after "Thuringia – no problem," for example, the variant "Thuringia – a problem?" circulated. Most recently we were at: "Thuringia – your problem!"

What's next for you?

Baumann: I’m interested in finding out how I can move forward in the theater scene with the approach we've taken here in Jena and how I can get to know colleagues who work in a similar way. Because I have the feeling that in the context of the performers, this is a totally lively, public discussion, and there are many people who want to have their say. Of course, this debate also exists on the level of dramaturgy, but – at least that's my feeling – it's much more theoretical.

So theoretically, people love to celebrate the collective, but in practice there are problems?

Baumann: You can already see that there is resistance at management or middle management level to relinquishing control to a certain extent. And even when you talk to other dramaturges, the different perspectives often clash very noticeably. In this respect, it’s of course also a question for the entire cultural landscape and cultural policy as to which structures should be used in the future, and I’m curious to see what happens.

What are your plans for the future, Lizzy Timmers and Pina Bergemann?

Timmers: I've actually always found that the people I've worked very well and intensively with I've met again in other constellations. In this respect, I am very hopeful.

Bergemann: We would like to continue together – I believe there’s already a plan, and that’s also a commitment. We just don't know yet whether we need a name as a collective, and if so, which one.

If you could choose a prize to win at your next professional job – what would it be?

Bergemann: I think there needs to be a foundation that pays travel expenses for journalists and a hotel where someone can stay for free 365 times a year so that there’s more coverage of theaters outside of the city centers and in rural areas. Because it makes total sense to me that this is no longer feasible for many media outlets.

Baumann: I would love to get a call from a theater’s management saying: Hey, we have a place here where people can work collectively in management – would you be interested?

Timmers: Exactly: "Here's your new theater!" I think that would make us perfectly happy at the moment!