Trumpeter

The Matthias Höfs Brass Project brings together some of the most outstanding brass players of their generation. Program from the early Baroque to the late Romantic.

Matthias Höfs Brass Project: "Golden Brass"

Forum alte Werft

Nuclear physicist Alice conducts research at CERN in Geneva when she's not arguing with her pubescent son Luke, who doesn't want to live in Switzerland. Her sister Jenny lives in Luton, East Anglia, sells health insurance over the phone, is an anti-vaccination campaigner, and cares for their demented mother, Karen. The sisters couldn't be more different. Or as Jenny once put it: "I'm Forrest Gump and you're the damn Wizard of Oz." But is it really that simple? "The mosquito, this tiny, fragile creature that you can kill with your thumb, is responsible for more deaths than any other animal," says Alice's partner. Are people without self-responsibility and reason just as dangerous as mosquitoes? In "Mosquitoes," psychology and science, fate and self-responsibility mingle in a dazzling drama about social divides that extend into family life. Director Jenke Nordalm and the ensemble pull out all the stops for this story that is as emotional as it is highly intelligent.

Mosquitoes

Kammer

Too operatic, too dramatic, not appropriate for the occasion – the worshippers at Leipzig's St. Nicholas Church were not enthusiastic on Good Friday in 1724 when Johann Sebastian Bach had his "St. John Passion" performed there for the first time. Indeed, Bach goes beyond a simple setting of the Passion of Jesus and fully exploits the dramatic potential inherent in the text of the Gospel of John, using all musical means at his disposal. The numerous choral scenes, in particular, lend the work an almost theatrical impact. And although it is a biblical story that is being told here, it is the great, universal human themes that are at stake: loyalty and betrayal, suffering and compassion, denial and forgiveness.

St. John Passion

Theater Aachen

"Is this my home, my land, my place? Am I supposed to fill the void of an emptiness here?" In Dinçer Güçyeter's novel "Our Germany Fairytale," two generations of women—mother and grandmother—constitute the voice of Fatma, who comes to Nettetal in 1965 as the wife of a Turkish guest worker. Through powerful images, poetry, monologues, dialogues, prayers, and dreams, the novel tells of hard work and great strength, of old gender roles and the dawn of a new beginning, of uprooting and longing. It is a homage to women and tells a piece of German history in a new, sensual, and humorous language. Güçyeter's debut novel, published by "mikrotext," was awarded the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2023. Director Antigone Akgün, who already thrilled audiences in Aachen with her production of "The Garden of Earthly Delights," is adapting the novel for the Kammer stage.

Our Germany fairytale

Aachen in the year 2044. After the National Alliance for Germany (NAfD) emerged as the strongest party in the 2029 federal election, democracy was gradually dismantled and an authoritarian regime established. Freedom of expression no longer exists, artistic production is under state control, people who cannot provide proof of German ancestry are "denaturalized" on a daily basis, and digital surveillance is omnipresent.

2044. Chronicle of the Future

A story about growing up and becoming an adult, about feeling "very big and very small," about encounters with the unfamiliar, and the question: Who am I when I'm constantly changing? Lewis Carroll, a mathematician by profession, sends little Alice on a journey full of unpredictable twists and turns and logical contradictions in his magnum opus. The fantastically crazy creatures she encounters in Wonderland—the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts, and the egg-shaped Humpty Dumpty—are cult figures. Director Nikolas Darnstädt stages "Alice" as a musical adventure about the power of imagination: As long as we dream and tell each other stories, we continually discover that the world could be completely different. Like Darnstädt, costume designer Laura Kirst is also working in Aachen for the first time. For set designer Sina Manthey, however, it's a reunion; she previously created the magical underwater worlds for the family play "The Fisherman and His Wife." The soundtrack and original songs are provided by actor-musician Malcolm Kemp.

Alice in Wonderland

A deep blue, sparkling starry sky with a crescent moon overhead, upon which the star-flaming Queen of the Night floats effortlessly in – yes, this stage set is an icon, a true classic like "The Magic Flute" itself. It was designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1815 for a Berlin performance. Around ten years later, he and Peter Cremer designed the new theater building for the Theater Aachen. The famous sets from Schinkel's "Magic Flute" became a source of inspiration for Aachen artist Tim Berresheim, who, with exuberant imagination and computer-aided art, further developed the mystically twisted worlds between vining nature, temples, and starry skies. Together with director Geertje Boeden and costume designer Sarah Antonia Rung, he explores the riddles of this magical fairytale opera: Does good and evil exist? Who can Tamino, Papageno, and Pamina trust on their journey? Equipped with magical instruments that can bring peace to the world and with great hope of finding love along the way, the three attempt to overcome the power games of their parents' generation. A multi-layered, visually stunning "Magic Flute" in a version for school classes and the whole family.

The Magic Flute

The stage is set for the pater europae, the Charlemagne of all Charlemagnes, the most famous Aachener and mythical ruler! Charlemagne is a unique historical brand. From the pen of the trio Dlé alias Jaques Tabaques, Jaxxon Mehrzweck and Kemo comes a rap spectacle that sheds a completely new light on the legends, anecdotes and theories about the Frankish king and packages them in rich beats and cheeky verses.

House of Karls

Can we live completely free and still remain responsible? »La Bohème« – much more than a touching tale of love and art – tackles this existential question.

Bohemia

The Master Builder« by Ibsen addresses a range of topics, such as patriarchal power structures, artistic genius and emancipation, and shows how they impact individual lives. Author and director Katharina Grosch rewrites the play with a focus on the conflicts between generations.

Master builder Solness

"The cross-disciplinary concept, a feature of Elena Tzavara's new artistic direction, works here too. Enthusiastic, long applause follows."Aachener Zeitung ed by beautiful music, explore mysterious underwater worlds.

The Fisherman and His Wife

Dinçer Güçyeter’s novel presents the voices of three generations of women – told by the son of Fatma, who arrives in Germany in 1965 as the wife of a Turkish guest worker. The poetic language, sociographic accuracy and the lifelike figures make this novel a fascinating material for theatre.

Our Germany Fairytale

We want to be touched by art, don’t we? How about asking the question of the theatre’s potential after 200 years of Theater Aachen? POLLYESTER and team create a sensual and interdisciplinary study – a delicate encounter between human bodies and avatars.

The Non-Visitor. Etudes for a Building

chamber Aachen

The famous decorations of Schinkel’s »The Magic Flute« were source of inspiration for artist Tim Berresheim, who uses exuberant imagination and digital art to further develop the mystical, twisted worlds.

Trumpeter

Manuel Michels

Events

Past events

Aug 7, 2026

Matthias Höfs Brass Project: "Golden Brass" · Musikalischer Sommer in Ostfriesland

May 8 - Jul 16, 2026

Mosquitoes · Theater Aachen

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