Theatre Buildings in European Context
DAM, Frankfurt, March 24th – May 21st

Text: Zsuzsa Beliczay
Photos: DAM

What will theatres of the future be like? What building will meet the technical changes, the stricter and stricter regulations and requirements as well as the audience’s expectations? In Frankfurt there is a serious dispute going on about the renewal of the iconic theatre building of the city or having it moved somewhere else. An exhibition housed in DAM is meant to take steps closer to the solution to this dilemma. In Frankfurt, after more than five decades after its opening the iconic glass structure named Städtische Bühnen housing both the opera house and the municipal theatre needs overall reconstruction now. The management of Frankfurt tries to avoid a scandal around the project similar to the one ensuing a few years ago because of the Hamburg-based Elbphilharmonie which was delayed several years and finished at a final budget exceeding three times the original. As a result, the cultural management partnered with the DAM to organise an exhibition following European examples of the past decades in order to try to help socializing and widening the acceptance of the investment.