Theater im Depot

In the location's words:

About us

The Theater im Depot, which has existed since 2001, is setting out from the 2022/23 season to become a stronger hub in the broad network of independent performing arts. The future programme will be characterized by contemporary dance, performance, performance/theatre, documentary theater, experimental music theater and all kinds of mixed forms. Works that seek proximity to visual art formats will also find a place in the new Theater im Depot.

In addition to stage productions and productions for the art space, these will also include works in the urban environment of the theater, as well as works for the digital space.

Beyond these conventional programmatic elements, the new Theater im Depot is pursuing the idea of further developing the structure of the cultural institution in a participatory way with actors from the theater's immediate neighborhoods. As an interface space with its ongoing program, space A29 stands for processual and long-term work with people from the theater's neighborhoods. Here, the social situation and artistic as well as activist and sometimes discursive approaches merge into an offering that focuses on the people from the urban society surrounding the theater.

The program of the Theater im Depot is historically influenced by works that originated in the independent scene in Dortmund. Over the past 21 years, the theater has been a key production and presentation venue for this scene. The projects from Dortmund's independent scene form the foundation of the Theater im Depot's program. Many local groups that are closely linked to the history of the building, such as RolfDennemann/artscenico, Drangwerk, I can be your translator, Sepidar Theater, Sterna Pau, trafique/Sir Gabriel Dellmann or Vier.D or the actors of the former in-house ensemble regularly rehearse, co-produce and present their work at the Theater im Depot. In addition, the new Theater im Depot also sets out to regularly present positions from the national and international independent performing arts in Dortmund. Our aim is not only to be a guest performance venue for selected regional, national and international artists, but also to become a co-production center. The new Theater im Depot cooperates with local, regional, national and international partners and will continue to expand its network.

The new Theater im Depot is particularly committed to young artists at the beginning of their careers. Offering them a space to develop their aesthetic signature is a particular concern of the new Theater im Depot.

With its presentations, thematic focuses, festivals, conferences and symposia as well as the participatory institutional development in the project The Gathering of the Gathered, the new Theater im Depot offers a platform for social debates about art, society and their relationships to one another. We see the new Theater im Depot as a place where controversial positions that were previously underrepresented and controversial are also presented and where opposing perspectives can meet and be negotiated with one another. The Theater im Depot will become a democratic testing ground that offers a protected space for urgently needed social debates and, through its own development, not only reflects social and aesthetic issues but also decisively advances them.