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The theatre collaborates with the Schaubühne Theatre
On 29 October, a premiere, co-produced by the National Kaunas Drama Theatre, took place at the Schaubühne Theatre in Berlin. This event marks a significant outcome of the international network Prospero NEW and the ongoing collaboration with the Schaubühne Theatre’s administration and leadership. The premiere, titled Call Me Paris, was written and directed by the emerging German artist Yana Eva Thönnes. Representatives of the National Kaunas Drama Theatre, namely, CEO of the Theatre Egidijus Stancikas, Artistic Director Edgaras Klivis, Deputy Director for Marketing Agnė Burovienė, and Manager for Public Relations Jolanta Garnytė, met with Schaubühne’s Artistic Director Thomas Ostermeier, Executive Director Tobias Veit, Head of Artistic Production Anne Arnz, Producer Caroline Buyken, Dramaturg Nils Haarmann, and other members of the theatre’s team. Before the premiere, colleagues from Schaubühne introduced the visitors to the theatre’s spaces and presented their upcoming creative projects. This meeting promises an exciting surprise for both the NKDT troupe and its audiences.
About the Schaubühne
The Schaubühne is one of Germany’s leading theatres, renowned for its international tours and its globally recognised festival FIND (Festival International New Drama). The theatre’s repertoire is distinguished by a critical and analytical, often politically engaged approach to social reality, combining both classical and contemporary works. Directors such as Thomas Ostermeier, Milo Rau, and Falk Richter are among the key figures in the theatre. Each season, the Schaubühne stages around six new premieres, while its repertoire consistently includes more than thirty productions. The theatre’s ensemble comprises approximately thirty actors.
Each year, the Schaubühne gives around 100 performances abroad and participates in major international festivals such as those in Avignon, Athens and Epidaurus, the Venice Theatre Biennale, the Belgrade BITEF Festival, as well as festivals in Vienna, Salzburg, and others. The theatre regularly tours globally, performing in cities including New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Quebec, São Paulo, London, Oslo, Ramallah, Melbourne, Ottawa, Taipei, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, New Delhi, Seoul, Rennes, Barcelona, Adelaide, Tokyo, Prague, Sydney, Montreal, and Beijing.
Director Thomas Ostermeier has been a member of the Schaubühne’s artistic board since 1999 and has served as the theatre’s Artistic Director since 2009.
About the Director Yana Eva Thönnes
Yana Eva Thönnes (born in 1990) lives in Munich. She studied philosophy and later theatre directing. Subsequently, she worked as an assistant director at the Munich Kammerspiele, where she collaborated with the renowned Japanese director and artist Toshiki Okada. Since 2015, she has been creating performances together with the artists’ collective The Agency (Magdalena Emmerig, Rahel Spöhrer, and Belle Santos). In the autumn of 2023, she staged In Memory of Doris Bither at the Schaubühne Studio. Her artistic interests focus on the technologies of the self, as well as posthumanist notions of intimacy and alienation.
In Call Me Paris, Yana Eva Thönnes explores the eerily similar stories of two women sharing the same name: Paris Hilton, hotel heiress and “selfie” pioneer, who unwillingly became famous after her ex-boyfriend released the sex tape 1 Night in Paris online, and a young girl from Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, nicknamed Paris, who finds herself in her own version of 1 Night in Paris.
On stage, Yana Eva Thönnes examines the traumatic memory of these two blonde women and analyses the social and cultural contexts in which these true stories could unfold.
Networking of “Prospero New European Wave” (Prospero NEW)
The performance Call Me Paris was created in collaboration with partners of the international theatre platform Prospero NEW, including the National Kaunas Drama Theatre, the Venice Biennale Festival, and the Emilia Romagna Theatre (Italy). The Prospero New European Wave platform unites leading European theatres, offering artists across the continent opportunities to build closer connections, share experiences, and develop joint creative projects.
The main objectives of PROSPERO NEW European Wave initiative are to promote emerging theatre artists, foster collaborative creative processes across countries, and encourage international exchange of knowledge and experience. Between 2025 and 2028, PROSPERO NEW has planned more than 150 activities, including 60 international tours, 19 co-productions, 38 artist residencies, and 4 mentorship programmes designed for 40 artists from partner institutions. These activities aim to discover and promote rising theatre talents, primarily directors, and to help them gain international recognition. Over the course of these four years, more than 300 artists will participate in the project.
The National Kaunas Drama Theatre has already taken part in international touring initiatives by hosting the Powszechny Theatre production Mein Kampf (directed by Jakub Skrzywanek) and contributing to the co-production of Call Me Paris with the Schaubühne Theatre.
The international Prospero NEW network is part of the Creative Europe programme and is co-funded by the European Union.
Information provided by the NKTD.
Gift card
It's the best gift ever! All you need to know is the amount you want to give and the person can choose the performance. The gift card can be exchanged for tickets at the box office and on the internet, the balance can be kept for your next shopping trip and the shortfall can be paid in advance.
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