Theater an der Ruhr

For the founders Roberto Ciulli, Helmut Schäfer and Gralf-Edzard Habben, three essential ideas were central: the primacy of art over apparatus, the idea of the ensemble, which includes all members of the theater, with equal contracts and the idea of travel. The theater has now been to more than 50 countries and has brought artists from these countries to Europe and Mülheim. The theater's headquarter in the historic building at Raffelbergpark is now a place for contemporary theater and art that defies fashionable compromises and fosters open, multilingual discourse and international encounters - a thinking space of diversity. 

For several years, the artistic direction has also included the managing director and dramaturg Sven Schlötcke, who has focused on long-term participatory projects and facilitated numerous collaborations and co-productions with international and national artists.

In the 19/20 season, director Philipp Preuss, who has directed at the Schaubühne Berlin, Schauspiel Leipzig, and Volkstheater Wien, among others, was appointed artistic director. His work is characterized above all by a high degree of interdisciplinarity, with references to the visual arts also being influential. 

 

 

The Theater an der Ruhr is located in a former brine bath in Raffelbergpark on the outskirts of Mülheim an der Ruhr. It is a place of encounter, of dialogue, a house that is open to everyone. The foyer is permanently transformed from an exhibition space to a place for receptions or a meeting place for a young audience. People from all over the world and of all ages come together here, making the house a lively place of mutual acquaintance and exchange.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Solbad was built on the lands of the historic Raffelberg estate. The Theater an der Ruhr moved into the Kurhaus in 1981 and used the old Kursaal as a performance venue. From 1994 to 1997, the listed building was renovated and converted into a permanent venue. Today, the theater hall offers space for 200 spectators and about 50 permanent ensemble members work in the rooms of the former Kurhaus. Since its reopening, the Theater im Raffelbergpark has developed into a unique cultural venue for the Ruhr region, which has established itself as the "other" theater in the region and throughout Germany thanks to its historic ambience in the listed park landscape and its range of content.