The Next Day Berlin: Must see Theater, Dance and Opera in Berlin
August, September, October, November 2024
Hi,
In July and August, the main theaters in Berlin go on vacation. However, the 36th edition of the traditional 'Tanz im August' festival takes place this August. This year, the festival starts on August 15th and runs until August 31st. I have selected the performances that caught my attention, featuring a mix of choreographers whose work I’ve been following and others that I will be seeing for the first time.
The Haus der Berliner Festspiele has already announced the full Performing Arts Season 2024-2025 schedule. Be sure to keep an eye on the excellent performances by the world’s leading directors and companies. Tickets will go on sale starting August 28th.
I have also selected some theater and dance performances that are on my radar for the coming months at Schaubühne, Volksbühne, Gorki, Deutsches Theater, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Staatsballett Berlin. All of these venues offer performances with English subtitles.
I hope you discover some performances that captivate you and take full advantage of Berlin’s vibrant performing arts scene.
Mateus
TANZ IM AUGUST
Sea of Silence by Tamara Cubas
🗓️ 16-17.08.2024, Radialsystem, Tickets: 18,70€/29,70€.Tamara Cubas brings to the stage women sharing their migration journeys through songs, dances, rituals, and texts.
AUSLAND by Jefta van Dinther
🗓️ 16-19.08.2024, Kraftwerk Berlin, Tickets: 27,50€.Jefta von Dinter offers the audience the opportunity to freely navigate an immersive installation during this four-hour performance, which explores the human longing for alternative realities.
Skatepark by Mette Ingvartsen
🗓️ 17-18.08.2024, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Tickets: 18,70€-41,80€.I’ve seen many shows choreographed by Mette Ingvartsen, and I really enjoy her work. I’m curious to see this piece, where she brings together dancers and skaters from Berlin on a stage transformed into a skatepark.
BOCA COVA by Michelle Moura
🗓️ 20-23.08.2024, Sophiensaele, Tickets: 24,20€.Michelle Moura will premiere her new piece at the festival. Her aesthetic is strong and provocative, characterized by physical and intense expression through the performers' bodies, faces, and mouths. I’m intrigued to see the direction Michelle has chosen for this performance.
Non human dances by Jérôme Bel & Estelle Zhong Mengual
🗓️ 22-24.08.2024, HAU 1, Tickets: 11€-27€.Choreographer Jérome Bel and art historian Estelle Zhong Mengual examine the Western canon of dance history spanning three centuries, connecting it with the current ecological emergency and a radical return to the equality of all living beings.
DUB by Amala Dianor
🗓️ 23-24.08.2024, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Tickets: 18,70€-41,80€.Amalia Dianor’s piece celebrates the creativity and vitality of short dance choreographies developed both in underground venues and on the internet. It features eleven young dancers trained in various urban dance forms.
BEST REGARDS by Marco D’Agostin
🗓️ 29-31.08.2024, HAU 2, Tickets: 18,70€-24,20€.I am very excited to see this show. This piece is a letter written by Marco D’Agostin to his former mentor, Nigel Charnock, one of the founders of DV8 Physical Theatre Company, who passed away in 2012. Be prepared for a performance that is both joyful and melancholic.
Fatigue by Viktor Szeri
🗓️ 27-29.08.2024, Sophiensaele, Tickets: 24,20€.Viktor Szeri performs alone on stage, exploring the limits of his own body. The slow-paced movements contrast with intense video sequences and pulsing music, reflecting the physical and psychological symptoms of burnout.
PERFORMING ARTS SEASON 2024/2025
Bark of Millions - A Parade Trance Extravaganza for the Living Library of the Deviant Theme by Taylor Mac & Matt Ray
🗓️ 09-12.10.2024, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Tickets: 18,70€-41,80€.55 songs for 55 years of queer history: In this opulent four-hour concert, rich in emotions, Taylor Mac, Matt Ray, and a 20-artist ensemble perform one song for each year since the first queer Pride Parade in 1970. A celebration of memory and community, it’s described as 'a rock opera meditation on queerness.' After reading the musical's description, there’s no choice but to go see this show!
Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Radouan Mriziga / Rosas, A7LA5
🗓️ 19-20.10.2024, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Tickets: 18,70€-41,80€.
The latest work by Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker was created in collaboration with Moroccan choreographer Radouan Mriziga. The musical foundation is Antonio Vivaldi’s 'Four Seasons,' a Baroque masterpiece that also serves as an ode to nature.
The Garden of Delights by Philippe Quesne / Vivarium Studio
🗓️ 26-27.11.2024, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Tickets: 18,70€-41,80€.
Philippe Quesne creates unique pieces that address urgent issues in clever, ironic, and satirical ways. If you don´t know his work, this is a great opportunity to see it.
SCHAUBÜHNE
Im Herzen der Gewalt (History of Violence) directed by Thomas Ostermeier
🗓️ 04-07-09.2024 (05.09 with English surtitles), Schaubühne, Tickets: 7€-53€.This is one of my favorite plays, and it's definitely the one I've seen the most in Berlin. But that wasn’t enough—I also went to see it in Amsterdam, Paris, and New York! I’m even considering watching it again!
Glaube, Geld, Krieg und Liebe (Faith, Money, War and Love) by Robert Lepage
🗓️ 29.09 -13-10.2024 (01.10 and 04.10 with English surtitles), Schaubühne, Tickets: 7€-53€.Canadian director Robert Lepage creator of the legendary production “The Seven Streams of the River Ota” is developing and staging a production with the Schaubühne ensemble for the first time. I’m really eager to see it.
GORKI
Los días afuera / The Days Out There by Lola Arias
🗓️ 14-15.09.2024 (Spanish with German & English surtitles), Gorki, Tickets: 12€-40€.Lola Arias, winner of the prestigious International Ibsen Prize in 2024, blends voguing and cumbia melodies in an ode to freedom. She is one of the most important directors of documentary theater today. This play is the second part of a diptych, following the film REAS, which premiered at this year’s Berlinale.
Prozess (Process) directed by Oliver Frljić
🗓️ 21& 25.09.2024 (25.09 In German with English surtitles), Gorki, Tickets: 12€-40€.Oliver Frljić is once again adapting a Kafka text for the Gorki. I saw “Ein Bericht für eine Akademie” (A Report for an Academy) twice, also directed by him at Gorki, and I am very curious about his new play.
VOLKSBÜHNE
The Hunger by Constanza Macras
🗓️ 19/21/27.09.2024, Volksbühne, Tickets: 15€-37€.
Since I moved to Berlin, I've seen every single show that Constanza has presented at Volksbühne. I definitely won’t miss this new premiere.
Sancta by Florentina Holzinger
🗓️ 15-16.11.2024, Volksbühne, Tickets: 15€-37€.
Florentina Holzinger's new performance, Sancta, premiered in Schwerin in May and is traveling to Vienna and Stuttgart before arriving in Berlin this November. We’re excited to see which boundaries she will push and what provocations she will bring to the stage this time. Make sure to act quickly to secure your tickets once sales begin.
DEUTSCHES THEATER
Einfach das Ende der Welt (It´s Only the End of the World) directed by Christopher Rüping
🗓️ 15/22.09.2024 (15.09 In German with English surtitles), Deutsches Theater, Tickets: 6€-52€.
Christopher Rüping is a director to watch, and I try not to miss any of his plays. He adapts books and plays in a contemporary and fascinating way. This production, imported from Schauspielhaus Zurich, was selected as one of the 10 Remarkable Productions at Theatertreffen 2021.
DEUTSCHE OPER BERLIN
Carmen by Georges Bizet/ Stage Direction by Ole Anders Tandberg
🗓️ 01/06/12/21.09.2024, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Tickets: 24€-92€.I must confess that there was some classical music I used to listen to and liked a lot. I was surprised when I attended a staging of *Carmen* for the first time in Hamburg and realized that those songs were from this opera. Now, I want to check out the production at the Deutsche Oper Berlin to see a different staging of it.
STAATSBALLET BERLIN
Bovary - Choreography by Christian Spuck after the novel by Gustave Flaubert
🗓️ 07/08/13/22/26.09.2024, 03.10.2024 & 21/25/12/2024, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Tickets: 32€-146€.
This was the first production I watched from Staatsballet Berlin earlier this year and the work captivated me. Spuck competently adapted the beauty of Gustave Flaubert's classic novel for the stage.
2 Chapters Love - Choreographies by Sol León and Sharon Eyal
🗓️ 15/17/23/26/30.11.2024 and 06.12.2024, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Tickets: 23€-82€.
This is one of the most beautiful dance pieces Lalai has seen this year. I’d better check it out too!
Great guide 👌