Marburg News: On Stage! Marburg State Theatre Management Changes after 20 years

On Stage! Marburg State Theatre Management Changes after 20 years

On stage! After some 20 years as head of Marburg’s Hessian State Theatre, Ekkehard Dennewitz is handing over his job to Matthias Faltz, the new director of Marburg’s theatre company.
Faltz will be leading this important cultural facility in a city where not only the many students enliven the cultural scene, but where the city council has appropriated approx. €4 million for culture in 2010, including funds for the Hessian State Theatre, which is also financed by the State of Hesse.

Particularly the younger people among the 80,000 citizens of Marburg are curious about the new manager. Faltz wants to attract them with fresh and modern productions. And in line with Marburg’s position as a city of the blind, he will also institute a "theatre of darkness”. Coproductions with other companies, such as the famous Folkwang School of Arts in Essen, are planned. But Faltz will not "break” with all the traditions of his predecessor, so that productions with lay actors will still be part of the schedule, including The Just by Albert Camus. During his tenure, Dennewitz not only made a name for himself with his classical productions, but also for the Hessian Children’s and Young People’s Theatre Week which is known far beyond Hesse’s borders.

With Faltz, a new episode will start in a city which not only has the two main stages and the two smaller ones of the Hessian State Theatre, but also two private theatre companies. The audience in Marburg - a colourful mixture of students, university employees and "townies” - will provide "good friction” for Faltz. But not only the Marburgers enjoy the theatre. The company tours all over Hesse, and even visits foreign countries. Every year, it takes part in the Theatre festival in Marburg’s Romanian twin city of Sibiu.