Echoraum

Why director Amir Reza Koohestani started running after the failure of the ‘Green Movement’ and ‘Woman Life Freedom’ in Iran, how his globally acclaimed theatre play ‘Blind Runner’ came about and what a marathon has to do with resistance and freedom.
– 6 May 2025

Dr. Bastian Fleermann, director of the Düsseldorf Memorial and Remembrance Site, on the relevance of the Majdanek trial for the city. Recorded by Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen.
– May 25, 2021

Florentina Holzinger on her work in dance, gender roles on stage, and how to keep pushing boundaries. A conversation with Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen
– June 18, 2021

Director Helgard Haug from Rimini Protokoll talks to Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen about the production “Chinchilla Arschloch, waswas”, the story behind the play, and why no two performances are alike.
– June 23, 2021

asphalt shares the statement
by the German Stage Association
on the attack on Ukraine
– 24 February 2022

Theatre operations and inclusive performing arts
How can people with disabilities gain better access to theatres? This is not just a question of barrier-free access, but also of what needs to change so that more disabled people can work in the theatre – both on stage and behind the scenes. What knowledge and skills do employees in the areas of directing, dramaturgy, technology and equipment at theatres need to develop? What structural requirements are needed and what changes in working methods? And how should plays and performances be designed so that people with different disabilities feel addressed by them and go to the theatre?
– 10 May 2022

Director Helge Schmidt on his new production “Die Krebsmafia” (The Cancer Mafia) and the connection between theater and journalism.
– May 25, 2022

Choreographer Amanda Piña discusses her research in the streets of Matamoros for the development of the piece “Frontera | Border,” indigenous roots, and the political and social power of dance.
– June 15, 2022

Lucy Wilke discusses her artistic work and the production SCORES THAT SHAPED OUR FRIENDSHIP, which will be featured at the asphalt Festival 2022.
– 22 June 2022

Choreographer Doris Uhlich on her fascination with the body, crossing boundaries and how to make the perfect slime.
– 26 June 2022

Author and dramaturge Juliane Hendes discusses the production "Endstation fern von hier," artistic work in the context of historical reappraisal, and blind spots in the culture of remembrance.
– June 27, 2022

He is a poet, musician and visual artist. During this year's asphalt Festival, Marlon Bösherz will move into the Weltkunstzimmer to live and work in an open studio. Visitors will gain insight into artistic creative processes and can follow Bösherz's drawing, reading, writing and thinking up close – a pure, immediate glimpse into the life of an artist. Alexandra Wehrmann spoke with Marlon Bösherz.
– 30 June 2022

Anke Retzlaff, Peter Florian Berndt, and Paul Jumin Hoffmann discuss their production "What's Worth Fighting For", which premieres at asphalt 2022.
– July 1, 2022

Tümay Kılınçel and Cornelius Schaper in conversation with Alexandra Wehrmann about their dance wish machine 'kaleiDANCEscope,' missing dances, and how a mini-stage in a caravan affects the audience.
– July 6, 2022

When people leave their homeland and head for Europe, it marks a radical break in their life story. Friends and families stay behind, former careers are abandoned, and dreams change. The lives of Junior, Lateef, and Aloys from West Africa have also taken a unique turn. Their plan to play professional football in Europe ended on the theater stage – as members of the Star Boys, a performance collective from Antwerp.
– May 23, 2023
by Chika Unigwe

‘Verrückt nach Trost’ has been unanimously praised by critics and is already considered a ‘great moment in theatre.’ Dramaturge Dan Kolber describes his experiences during rehearsals with Devid Striesow, Ursina Lardi, André Jung and Sebastian Blomberg, and how the production took shape under the direction of Thorsten Lensing.
– 31 May 2023

On the occasion of the world premiere of ‘Oasis de la Impunidad’ in April 2022 at the Schaubühne Berlin as part of the ‘Festival International Neue Dramatik’ (FIND), writer Joseph Pearson spoke with director Marco Layera and dramaturges Elisa Leroy and Martín Valdés-Stauber about the background to the production.
– 9 June 2023

The production ‘Dunkeldorf’ by the theatre collective Pièrre.Vers deals with the bomb attack on 27 July 2000 at the Wehrhahn S-Bahn station in Düsseldorf. To date, no one has been convicted for the devastating act, and hardly anyone remembers it. How could this happen? Author and dramaturge Juliane Hendes searches for answers.
– 18 June 2023

The American trumpeter Nate Wooley is regarded as one of the leading figures in the American movement to redefine the physical limits of his instrument and has gained international recognition for his unconventional trumpet language. Not only in New York is he considered one of the most sought-after trumpeters in the jazz, improvisation, noise and new music scene and has won numerous awards.

He has already been a guest at the asphalt Festival several times and will return in 2023 for the world premiere of Bojan Vuletic's concert installation ‘Sorry I can't hear you over the sound of my freedom’ on 23 June in the Philara Collection.

Composer and festival director Bojan Vuletic met with Nate Wooley in his studio. They talked about Nate's approach to his instrument, the music magazine he publishes, ‘Sound American’, and creativity in general.
– 22 June 2023

The award-winning Ukrainian writer and poet Halyna Kruk delivered a moving festival speech at asphalt 2023 about the importance of art and literature in times of war. We document her speech verbatim. Translated from Ukrainian by Beatrix Kersten.
– June 23, 2023

How do you take dance out of the dance studio? Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen has developed the concept of ‘permeable choreography’ and makes social and political issues the building blocks of her productions. Here she explains how the idea for ‘Skatepark’ came about and what skating and dance have in common.
– 16 April 2024

The members of the artist collective Aurora Negra develop theatre out of their biographies and speak on stage in the first person, as the subject of their own story. Their first joint production ‘Aurora Negra’ celebrated its premiere at the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Lisbon in 2020. It was the first performance of a play written and presented on stage by black Portuguese women of African descent in the 175-year history of the Portuguese national theatre. It deals with issues that define us as a society – freedom, equality, representation, justice. Cleo Diára, Isabél Zuaa and Nádia Yracema spoke before the premiere about their experiences as black female artists in the predominantly white cultural scene, which are certainly transferable to many countries around the world.
– 24 May 2024

‘Our Son’ is set in a living room in Serbia. The homosexual son is already an adult, lives as far away as possible and comes home to visit. The parents love their child, but simply cannot find a way to accept his homosexuality. Who is to blame for the fact that their son is not ‘like the rest of the normal world’? Did the father not care enough about him? Is it because his mother sent him to choir? And the son just wants to introduce his friend ...

– 20 June 2024

Wie reden wir miteinander, wie sehen wir einander? Und wie kommen wir zusammen – im Skatepark, am Esstisch oder im Theater? Kommen Sie mit den Menschen ins Gespräch, die unsere Räume bespielen und sich mit Ihnen verbinden möchten. Im Anschluss an ausgewählte Vorstellungen laden wir als »Zugabe« zu Nachgesprächen mit Autor*innen, Regisseur*innen, Schauspieler*innen und Tänzer*innen ein. Es moderieren im Wechsel die Journalistin Marion Troja und die Kulturschaffende Miriam Owusu-Tutu.

Dear audience, dear professionals, dear civil society actors and, above all, dear interested, rational, inquisitive public, you are at a symposium on conspiracy narratives that I have made up. My colleagues are reciting text that I also made up. You see a production by Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen, you move through rooms by Susanne Hoffmann and you hear stories about magic, mythical creatures and an apocalyptic threat that will tear the whole world into the abyss, which ... yes, someone else has made up. And admitting that as an author is not easy, of course, because you always want to have the most original ideas and create the most grandiose worlds yourself ...

Author Juliane Hendes on her play “Schaf sehen.”, how conspiracy narratives threaten democracy and whether art can be a way out.
– July 10, 2024

On the occasion of the Bundestag elections on 23 February 2025, the German Stage Association has launched the #CultureinFundamentalLaw campaign to set an example for the promotion of democracy and culture. As part of the German Theatre Association, we are taking part in this campaign.
– 13 February 2025