New Member of the Artistic Direction Team of Theater Thikwa as of June 2023

On June 1, 2023, a changing of the guard in terms of generations is taking place within the artistic direction team at Theater Thikwa. Laura Besch will replace Gerd Hartmann as co-artistic director. Nicole Hummel will retain her current position as co-artistic director. This ensures that both continuity and careful innovative can both be pursued in equal measure.

Laura Besch grew up in Salzburg and studied German studies, music studies and human medicine in Berlin. She has produced performances, performative concerts and audio walks with her performance collective, hannsjana, since 2013. The work with hannsjana has taken her to theaters (Sophiensaele Berlin, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Luzerner Theater) as well as museums (Berlin Museum for Communication, Technoseum Mannheim). Residency programs followed at Gessnerallee (Zurich), brut (Vienna) and a stay as a visiting artist at Back to Back Theatre in Geelong, Australia. Laura Besch has worked with Theater Thikwa for quite some time already, first as an associate, followed by the first artistic collaboration, Diane for a Day (hannsjana and Theater Thikwa) in 2018). Merkel premiered in 2021.

“I am very pleased to be able to accompany Theater Thikwa into the future and research the theater as a place of collective and subversive practice together with the Thikwa ensemble.” – Laura Besch

Gerd Hartmann has helped to shape Theater Thikwa as a director since the early 1990s and has led it together with Nicole Hummel for 11 years. His enigmatic, humorous and poetic productions have been and continue to be pillars of Thikwa’s programming and have been invited to numerous festivals. In the last decade, Thikwa has been able to expand its position as a key player in the field of diverse theater both nationally and internationally. Many important artists within the independent performing arts community now work regularly with and at Thikwa and cooperation projects with large institutions such as Theater an der Parkaue, Deutsches Theater and Grips have been realized. Awards such as the 2019 German Federal Theater Prize and the 2018 Martin Linzer Theater Prize reflect this successful development. Gerd Hartmann will also remain associated with Thikwa in the future as an independent director.

“My motto has always been stop when things are at their best. I am proud of where Thikwa now stands within the diverse theatrical landscape and happy that I have had the opportunity to help to shape this path.” – Gerd Hartmann