Joe Chialo could be on to something big – if given good advice

Finally, finally: These days there will be news about the future director of the Berliner Volksbühne. This is what the cultural administration says. One would hope so, because the house needs perspective. Similar to the automobile industry: the Volksbühne was once a driving force in the German-speaking, if not international, theater scene.

The Berlin director Ersan Mondtag, born in 1987, is now being discussed. Young enough to build something at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, but also with some experience. Mondtag worked at the Maxim Gorki Theater and at the German Opera. At the 2024 Venice Biennale he designed the German pavilion together with Yael Bartana. His production of “Salome” by Richard Strauss is currently running at the Antwerp Opera House.

Rescue through reserves?

Mondtag specializes in spectacle and artistic diversity. This is crucial for the Volksbühne. The budget cuts should not stand in the way of commitment, because the Volksbühne has reserves.

Ersan Mondtag has self-confidence. In 2017 he was invited to the theater meeting, at that time he told the Tagesspiegel: “I would really like to take over the Schaubühne if Thomas Ostermeier leaves there.” Well, Ostermeier is staying and has lasting success at the Schaubühne. After Chris Dercon’s failure, Mondtag already applied for the Volksbühne.

But there are other ways available. The Volksbühne would be the House for a focus on the East. On Eastern European theater. One thinks of the exiled Russian Kirill Serebrennikov. Someone like him could enrich and expand the Berlin theater landscape – with Polish, Baltic and Ukrainian artists. A lunar day direction would not rule out this direction.

A focus on dance at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz would be just as important and obvious. With Florentina Holzinger and Constanza Macras and then maybe Sasha Waltz, something great could happen here. The Volksbühne needs the large format, this stage cannot tolerate small and small.

This makes the search for the new director difficult. But also exciting: Senator for Culture Joe Chialo, if given good advice, can initiate a great cause here. Finally again. Berlin culture needs something bright and liberating in all this darkness.