Seeking Programme Director(s)

Theater der Welt was founded in 1981 by the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute (ITI). It presents ground-breaking performances and developments in theatre from all over the world. The 2023 edition will be—for the first time—organised as a joint project by an international production house for contemporary performing arts (Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main), an innovative Museum for Art and Design (Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main) and a municipal repertory theatre with a permanent actors’ ensemble (Schauspiel Frankfurt, Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main). The Offenbach Council Office for Cultural Management (Amt für Kulturmanagement der Stadt Offenbach) will join the three organisers as an associated partner.

The festival will take place in Frankfurt am Main and Offenbach am Main, two neighbouring cities that are interwoven closely with each other and form one urban area which unites a diverse population of approximately 900,000 inhabitants.

Mousonturm Artistic Director Matthias Pees, Schauspiel Artistic Director Anselm Weber and Museum Director Matthias Wagner K jointly hold the general directorship of Theater der Welt 2023. Together with their teams, they will help facilitate the funding, programming, planning and execution of the festival. The organisers will not only open their venues and infrastructures for Theater der Welt 2023, they are looking for an inspiring and sustainable exchange with the festival’s Programme Director(s) that responds to and expands on the reality of Frankfurt-Offenbach and the specific profiles of the hosting organisations.

The organisers are looking for applications from individuals as well as for joint applications from teams of two and groups, both formally established and informal.

Applicants should have
-extended experience in programming and organising international festivals or comparable events in the field of the performing arts
-the capability to lead an independent festival team
-extended experience in managing programme budgets responsibly and independently
-the specific interest to work in the urban area of Frankfurt and Offenbach, shifting perspectives of the organiser’s institutions, partners, and networks
-the skills and talent to compose, present and represent a unique festival programme featuring strong curatorial positions

The working languages of the festival are English and German, and the Programme Director(s) should be able to proficiently communicate in at least one of these languages. With the intent to shift perspectives and change practices in the field of interna- tional performing arts curation, the organisers explicitly encourage applications from abroad and overseas.

The organisers intend to assign or employ the Programme Director(s) for the time period June 2021 to August 2023 and will offer them a sector-related pay in Germany that reflects their responsibility for an outstanding and innovative festival concept and programme the motivation and leadership of a festival team, a convincing marketing and communication strategy and a contribution towards the increase of the festival budget through successful project funding applications and the search for cooperation and coproduction partners. The Programme Director(s) will also be responsible, together with the organisers and  with the help of external advisers, for the development and implementation of specific outreach, inclusion and sustainability programmes for the festival.

Though the Programme Director(s) will be selected on the base of merit, applicants with equal qualifications, competence and professional performance from groups underrepresented in the organisers’ staffs such as LGBTIQ+, BIPoC or persons with disabilities will be preferred.

The selection of the Programme Director(s) is made by a committee named by the organisers in three stages. In stage 1, all applicants are asked for sending in a motivation letter, together with their detailed CVs, using an online application form on the website 2023.theaterderwelt.de. They are invited to consult the application guidelines provided at the same web address which also informs about the further stages, procedures, and the timeline of the application process.

The deadline for application in stage 1 is January 31, 2021.

Additional questions can be addressed at any time to recruitment2023 [​at​] theaterderwelt.de.