WELT/BÜHNE
The platform for international drama
WELT/BÜHNE invites audiences to change their point of view, learn more about the world that lies beyond the horizon of their personal experience and familiarise themselves with new languages and voices. As a platform for international contemporary drama, WELT/BÜHNE provides a forum for exchange and conversation, a space for respectful argument and shared reflection on our present. This is particularly important in an age in which nations are increasingly cutting themselves off, border forces are being built higher and higher, travel is not only costly but also subject to every-greater regulation and the «right» passport has become the strongest currency. The guest authors are invited to the Residenztheater for writing residencies that they can use for new projects. In the WELT/BÜHNE Salon they tell us about their works and the conditions under which they operate in their home countries.
WELT/BÜHNE is also a stage for the theatre makers who visit us from Argentina, Chile, Georgia, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Rwanda, South Africa, South Korea, Uganda, Ukraine and the USA. They come together here once a year, making Munich the centre of international contemporary drama. WELT/BÜHNE – The Festival is now an established presence in the theatre landscape, presenting Residenztheater productions of plays by individual WELT/BÜHNE authors, showcasing exclusive international guest productions and staging a series of readings and discussions.
Supported by the Freunde* des Residenztheaters
WELT/BÜHNE - The Festival 2026
From 19 to 25 June 2026
19 Jun
Fri 19 Jun
Hamlet.AI - 19 Jun
Fri 19 Jun
Iokaste: Rohmaterial (Iocasta: Raw Material) - 19 Jun
Our Broucher Premierenheft 25/26
20 Jun
Sat 20 Jun
Buch trifft Bühne (Book meets Stage) - 20 Jun
Sat 20 Jun
Iokaste: Rohmaterial (Iocasta: Raw Material) - 20 Jun
21 Jun
Sun 21 Jun
Neue Stücke aus Israel (New Plays From Israel) - 21 Jun
In a new three-part series, members of the Residenztheater ensemble read new plays from Israel. The series begins with «Shura ( שׁוּרהָ ). The Craft of Identifying Life» by Roee Joseph, translated from Hebrew by Heiko Mönnich. After the massacre on 7 October, the author witnessed the identification of the bodies at the Shura military camp and wrote a moving documentary text about his experiences.
Sun 21 Jun
Wor(l)d Peace - 21 Jun
Sun 21 Jun
Heartship - 21 Jun
When Ann sees her for the first time, Sara is standing on the stage of the Heartship bar - as she does on the last Thursday of every month - and declaring war on the patriarchy with her furious stand-up performance. From that moment on, the rational ophthalmologist and single mum is fascinated by Sara's fearless manner. A connection develops between the two that goes beyond the conventions of romantic relationships or platonic friendships - a heartship.
22 Jun
Mon 22 Jun
Welt/Bühne Salon - 22 Jun
Each playwright will be introduced to the audience during their residency. In the WELT/BÜHNE Salon, Residenztheater-actors will read the guests' latest texts, after which there will be an opportunity to get to know the authors and ask questions: What role does theatre play in their home countries? What are the working conditions like? What is their fascination with theatre? But also: How do they view us and the German-speaking theatre landscape?
Mon 22 Jun
Cosmic Home - 22 Jun
Mon 22 Jun
Cosmic Home - 22 Jun
23 Jun
Tue 23 Jun
Hamlet.AI - 23 Jun
Tue 23 Jun
Ich. Und das, was ihr daraus macht. (Me. And what you make of it.) - 23 Jun
24 Jun
Wed 24 Jun
Resi-Werkstatt (Resi-Workshop) - 24 Jun
Once a month, you have the opportunity to creatively explore a play from our program in the «Resi Workshop». In the two-hour workshop you will approach the respective production with text excerpts, playful exercises and improvisations.
Wed 24 Jun
The Crying Child - 24 Jun
25 Jun
Thu 25 Jun
The Crying Child - 25 Jun
WELT/BÜHNE - The authors
Since 2019, WELT/BÜHNE has invited Beniamin M. Bukowski from Poland, Alfredo Staffolani from Argentina, Satoko Ichihara from Japan, Birutė Kapustinskaitė from Lithuania, Asiimwe Deborah Kawe from Uganda, Noa Lazar-Keinan from Israel, Odile Gakire Katese from Rwanda, Natalia Blok and Oleksandr Seredin from Ukraine, Deepika Arwind from India, Pooyan Bagherzadeh from Iran, Koleka Putuma from South Africa, Hong-Do Lee from South Korea and Carla Zúñiga Morales from Santiago de Chile to come to Munich for writing residencies.
In the 2024/2025 season, Mariam Megvinyte from Georgia and Michael Yates Crowley from the USA have been invited to take up writing residencies, while Eva Gouda from the Netherlands and Andreja Kargačin from Serbia have been invited in the 2026/2027 season.
The residencies provided authors with three important resources in the form of time, space and financial support. During the residencies, which lasts several months, they produced texts and plays that are subsequently translated into German.
WELT/BÜHNE – The Salons
Each author is introduced to the audience during their residency. In the WELT/BÜHNE Salon, actors of the Residenztheater ensemble read the guests' new texts - followed by a discussion to get to know the authors and ask questions: What role does theatre play in their home countries? What are the working conditions like? What is the fascination for theatre? But also: How do they view us and the German-speaking theatre landscape?
WELT/BÜHNE – THE FESTIVAL 2025
WELCOME TO A GLOBAL PLAYWRIGHTS' UTOPIA!
In the first week of June, Munich once again became a hub for international contemporary drama. We welcomed authors from around the world to the city – artists who acted as seismographs of their time, offering vital perspectives to help navigate the complexities of the present.
Familiar faces returned for the third edition of the festival. At its heart, WELT/BÜHNE aimed to forge connections that spanned continents — and that would last beyond the seven days. Each year, the WELT/BÜHNE collective grew, enriched by new authors and theatre-makers, often recommended by fellow participants. In this way, the programme was curated «from within».
For this year’s edition, WELT/BÜHNE authors explored the theme of borders and presented their reflections in the audio walk «Borders between us». As border fences rise ever higher and the «right» passport becomes the world’s actual currency, we ask: can shared intellectual and sensual experiences in the theatre help us transcend both geographical and ideological divisions – or is that merely a utopian dream?
This year’s festival featured guest performances from Chile, Iran, and the United States (performed in their original languages), readings with the Residenztheater ensemble, artist talks with invited experts, productions of the Residenztheater – and of course, parties. Together we celebrated the theatre, this «strange gift of the present» (Thom Luz).
The Festival's Programme 2025
WELT/BÜHNE - The Festival 2024
The second edition of WELT/BÜHNE - The Festival took place in June 2024: For the first time, «Sohn einer Mutter. Mutter eines Sohns.» and «Lysistrata macht Urlaub», two in-house productions by WELT/BÜHNE authors from Iran and Ukraine were premiered, international guest performances were shown, the authors of the upcoming residencies were presented in readings and all WELT/BÜHNE authors were brought together on stage and in conversation on one evening.
WELT/BÜHNE - Festival 2024 was organised in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut and with the support of the Friends* of the Residenztheater. The guest performances «Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In» and «Blind Runner» were made possible by a private foundation that the Friends* Association was able to secure.
The Festival's Programme 2024
WELT/BÜHNE – The Festival 2023
The first edition of «WELT/BÜHNE - The Festival» took place in June 2023: Over 30 authors from all over the world were presented. Two guest performances from Israel and Rwanda were shown, further texts were presented in staged readings and controversial topics relating to contemporary drama were discussed. There were also closed events such as an encounter with translators.
