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Performing Arts

The German theater system is unique in its diversity, regional spread and system of financial support. The German public regards the theater as an open forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences. It has long served as a trigger of vital public debate.

As with all cultural matters, local authorities in Germany’s 16 federal states (Länder) bear sole political and financial responsibility for theaters. They provide the vast majority of financial support; private financing and commercial structures are rare. Public subsidies are widely acknowledged as a safeguard for the freedom of art. Some US$2 billion are spent on theaters, opera houses and orchestras in Germany each year, sustaining as many as 150 publicly funded theaters and 280 private houses. There are also plenty of independent theater groups. Many of the private theaters are subsidized, too. This system and the federal structure of the country guaranty that high-quality theater and outstanding production companies can be found everywhere, not just in the big cities. Almost every town, no matter how small, has its own stage.

The most common theater structure in Germany is the “three category house”: This offers a broad spectrum of performing arts, including drama, opera, musical theater and dance. Over the course of a season, these theaters put on 20 to 30 plays, of which about ten are new productions, the rest repertory. In total, some 5,300 productions are performed each season. The most frequently performed plays include Faust I by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Threepenny Oper by Bertolt Brecht, as well as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. The most popular operas are The Magic Flue and The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, La Traviaa by Guiseppe Verdi and Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck. Classical ballets such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake by Peter Tchaikovsky and Cinderella by Sergei Prokofiev are most frequently performed. tt

Sixty festivals – most famously, the Bayreuther Festspiele, a tradition-steeped venue for interpretations of the operas of Richard Wagner, or the Theater Meeting in Berlin, where awards are presented for the best plays of the year – are held throughout the year in Germany. Each year, around 120,000 theater performances and concerts attract roughly 35 million patrons.

Links

Festivals

Bayreuther Festspiele