06. February 2023
Dear Audience,
The board of directors has decided not to renew our contract as of mid-2024. Our artistic directorship will thus end with the coming season. A joint press release was sent out today by the board of directors and ourselves.
This development over the past few weeks came as a surprise to us. We would have wished to continue the project, contrary to what has been speculated in the press in the last few days. This project, this house, our art and the people we work with are too important to us.
We would like to emphasise the following: It is doubly wrong to say that we have thrown in the towel because of the lack of subsidy increases. It is simply not true. However, what is true is that the board of directors and we fought for this subsidy increase (the first substantial one in many years). At the same time, however, we began to plan many months ago how we could financially absorb it should it not come through. When the politicians could not support the proposal, we and the board of directors were very disappointed, but we accepted the decision and looked to the future.
This project, which is based on openness and art - the expansion of the concept of theatre on the one hand and the opening towards a more diverse and inclusive house with a more collective, participatory management style on the other - is carried by many people. Many of them experienced for the first time that the house is also theirs and for them and by them. They all invest a lot and, at the same time, they all have placed a lot of hope in the Schauspielhaus Zürich. Together with them, we are proud of what has been achieved at the Schauspielhaus in recent years, despite Covid and other adverse circumstances.
Last but not least, we are proud of you, of our audience: those of you whom we have gained, those whom we have been able to retain, and those whom we know may still join and other that will rejoin. The consistently enthusiastic and warm reactions, the audience's mixture consisting of more traditional and more progressive, young and old, which is special for a municipal theatre; all this has brought joy and hope. It is also a good sign that we have succeeded in attracting a younger and more diverse audience to the theatre. Because this is also an investment in the future of the institution. However, we are sorry that we have not been able to keep everyone and that we have irritated the more traditional classes in particular. Of course, you can't please everyone, and change is often painful. We also love the traditional in theatre, and sometimes it was simply a matter of misunderstanding. We would have liked to have had more time than this first contract period, which was overshadowed by Covid, to overcome it and to be able to adjust to the respective expectations.
Above all, however, we are proud of the exciting theatre that has been and continues to be created here at the Schauspielhaus Zürich. Many prizes have been awarded, invitations have been extended all over the world. The formative in-house artists of recent years, Leonie Böhm, Alexander Giesche, Suna Gürler, Yana Ross, Trajal Harrell, Christopher Rüping and Wu Tsang, but also Christiane Jatahy and Milo Rau as well as, of course, Nicolas Stemann, and an outstanding and unique ensemble of actors, dancers and performers have also been able to place the Schauspielhaus Zürich in a prominent international position. The artists who work here, the composition of the group is unique in the German-speaking world. The world knows about the Schauspielhaus Zürich. The world knows that a city and its citizens attach extraordinary value to it, afford it with their subsidies, and that this is something special.
We are grateful for these encounters made possible by the Schauspielhaus Zürich and a highly motivated staff.
Finally, there is no doubt for all of us that the initiated process of change in the institution with regard to sustainability, diversity and inclusion, the work on more collective structures and flatter hierarchies is necessary and right. It is important to us that the relevance of this area is recognised and that the culture of debate survives our time in Zurich. Society is changing, people are changing and institutions have to be ready to follow suit. We will continue to do our best and work to make theatre feel like it belongs and is open to many. And that art is at the centre and makes a difference.
In recent weeks, it has been said again and again that the city of Zurich does not love the arts and theatre enough. But who is that supposed to be, the "city of Zurich"? We have also experienced a different Zurich. We have seen people who burn for theatre. We experience committed citizens, critical spirits, creative minds, touching personalities. We place our hope in this Zurich.
Did we do everything right? Of course not. We may have tried too much, maybe too fast. We have risked a lot and certainly made mistakes. But we know from theatre work that there is no development if you always want to do everything right. We are constantly learning, doing things well, making mistakes, and learning again to do things better. We will also use the remaining time for this.
Right now, we are very exhausted and sad. But we will find our way out of it. Because we are not alone. We have wonderful collaborators who shape and carry this project. We have our art. And we have you, dear audience, and we are very much looking forward to spending more wonderful time with you. May the next season, our last, be a celebration together.
That is all we have to say at the moment. You will therefore not read any interviews with us. We want to concentrate on our work. And we are looking forward to rehearsals, to making theatre, to you, our audience with us in the Schauspielhaus, where the real theatre happens.
Cordially,
Your Benjamin von Blomberg und Nicolas Stemann
