Theater Bonn ushers in a season of diverse, thought-provoking performances, spanning from political commentary to operatic classics. This spring, audiences will experience a range of narratives, including Elfriede Jelinek's 'On the Royal Road / Final Victory,' Katja Brunner's 'The Hand is a Lonely Hunter,' Mozart's timeless 'The Magic Flute,' and the socially charged musical 'Hairspray.' These events promise to engage, challenge, and entertain theatergoers with their unique storytelling and powerful performances.

Theater Bonn's Diverse Spring: A Journey Through Complex Narratives

Theater Bonn has curated an extraordinary series of events that explore profound themes like power dynamics, identity, and the essence of humanity through a captivating array of performances. From Elfriede Jelinek's politically charged 'On the Royal Road / Final Victory' to the timeless enchantment of 'The Magic Flute' by Mozart, these diverse productions promise to engage audiences with their thought-provoking narratives and artistic brilliance. Each event offers a unique perspective, inviting audiences to delve deep into the stories and characters that unfold on stage, promising an unforgettable theatrical journey.

Theatrical Extravaganza: Exploring Themes of Power, Identity, and Humanity at Theater Bonn

Theater Bonn is set to captivate its audience with an array of incredible performances ranging from classic operas to innovative dance performances. The 2025 season brings us unforgettable productions like 'The Magic Flute', 'The Love Potion', 'The Threepenny Opera', and many more. Each event promises to offer a unique experience, with talented artists bringing these stories to life. Whether you are a fan of opera, musical, or dance, Theater Bonn has a lineup that will appeal to all tastes. Join us as we delve into the magic of these upcoming performances.

Exploring the Diverse Artistic Landscape at Theater Bonn

Theater Bonn is set to enchant audiences with a diverse lineup of performances for the 2025-2026 season. With an array of opera and dance events, including timeless classics like 'The Magic Flute' and 'The Nutcracker', as well as innovative pieces such as 'The Unreachable Point Of Suspension' and 'Cosmos', the program promises a unique blend of tradition and modernity. Each production showcases the exceptional talents of renowned artists and performers, making this season an unmissable experience for lovers of the arts.

Theater Bonn's 2025-2026 Program: A Celebration of Opera, Dance, and Musical Mastery

In 2026, Theater Bonn is set to become a vibrant arena for ballet and dance enthusiasts, offering a diverse range of performances that blend tradition with innovation. From historical tales to contemporary expressions, this season promises to be a journey through the emotive power of dance. Noteworthy events include the legendary 'Carmina Burana' and the debut of the Paris Opéra's Junior Ballet. Whether you're captivated by rich historical narratives or the cutting edge of dance evolution, Theater Bonn's upcoming season is a cultural tapestry waiting to be explored.

Exploring Dance's Dynamic Frontier at Theater Bonn: A 2026 Ballet Odyssey

Theater Bonn is set to dazzle audiences with a series of ballet and dance performances that promise to push creative boundaries while paying homage to timeless traditions. From the innovative creations of the Junior Ballet of the Paris Opéra, to the evocative dances that explore heritage and nature, these events are a celebration of movement and artistry. As the season unfolds, each performance offers a unique exploration of themes such as hope, identity, and the enduring cycles of life, inviting viewers to experience dance as a powerful medium of storytelling.

Theater Bonn's Ballet Extravaganza: A Dance Into the Future

The Junior Ballet of the Paris Opéra is a brand new company. In early summer 2024, Alexander Neef , General Director of the Paris Opéra, stated: " The creation of the Junior Ballet reflects the Paris Opéra's desire to constantly evolve and offer innovative forms of creation, training, and education, while preserving the institution's centuries-old heritage. "

Tradition of the future

Theater Bonn Opera House

The Chamber of Love, of which legend sings, is a cave on the Basque coast, once flooded by high tide and since the 18th century the scene of a sentimental tragedy. History calls it Ura and Ederra (Water and Beauty). At the very moment when they were savoring life and love at their most, the ocean swallowed them with its caresses and threats, its calm and its fury. In the morning, their bodies still lay entwined on the sand.

Love Room

THE NUTCRACKER is and remains the ultimate Christmas ballet. And who could fail to be enchanted by the story of Drosselmeyer and Marie?

The Nutcracker

Anyone watching COSMOS will wonder whether human bodies are actually dancing on stage or whether planets are actually colliding. The name of the evening says it all: Anthony Heinl and his company will whisk you away on a cosmic odyssey. You'll be amazed by the wonder of the cosmos and also by what modern lighting design can achieve. The eVolution Dance Theater show is full of visual effects and rightfully deserves the title of a lighting design show. In COSMOS, you will explore unknown galaxies and travel and whirl through starscapes with the dancers. Let yourself be swept away into a world where your imagination knows no bounds.

Cosmos

Few artists who come to Bonn for the highlights of international dance can be called " pop stars ." Yoann Bourgeois is one of them. With his 726,000 followers on Instagram, he is a media and artistic phenomenon—always playfully in touch with the gravity of life.

The Unreachable Point Of Suspension

Final concert

A day of music, improvisation, and performance. The lawn in front of the opera house is transformed into a meeting place. Professor Bimbam's klong machine lands once again for our young audience, and after his departure, the pop-up stage opens up for dance, singing, music, and community. Various groups from Bonn will be participating, inviting everyone to listen, participate, dance, and be together with their performances. In the evening, the workshop stage opens its doors, providing a fitting artistic end to the night.

Lawn & Spotlight

In Sanskrit 'Agni' means fire in a literal and mythological sense. It is in Vedic mythology an important deity. Fire is a symbol of light and darkness, creation and destruction. Around us everywhere there is light and darkness – it is up to us to change things for the best. In Ashley Lobos’ choreography the dancers go on an exploratory journey. They explore the concept of »Agni« in its many facets and take the audience with them. The audience is meant to experience inwardly this journey, feel the »fire«.

Navdhara India Dance Theatre

A wedding is one of the most beautiful and most magnificent occasions concocted by mankind. In a traditional culture it is a rite of passage that celebrates the recasting of the woman’s role within the family. Involved are worries about setting up a new household, the sorrow of taking leave of parents and friends, the angst about having a new family and new responsibilities. These situations have been described and dealt with in innumerable folk songs. Inspired by the folk songs and choral music of her Serbian homeland, the Serbian Canadian composer Ana Sokolović wrote in 2011 an opera for six women’s voices that has to do with the preparations for a wedding. The bride – Milica – spends time with her friends and together they dance, play, tell jokes, argue, grow weary, then dance again. What Milica goes through is a kind of universal transformative experience and this opera is a snapshot of this elemental life circumstance. From everyday objects and everyday chatter, the composer conjures up true theater magic. Without orchestral accompaniment – only with a few percussion instruments which the singers themselves play – by virtue of six women’s voices Sokolović weaves a breathtaking tapestry, which sometimes consists of word and sound snippets, sometimes lapses into absurd rhymes, but then also comes up with some catchy agreeable melodies.

Wedding

Werkstattbühne

A blind old man teaches surviving children music-making. In a hospital a touring production of an opera entitled “Love and Guilt” is given, which shortly before it ends, is subject to a bombardment which wipes out all involved, including the audience. But again, music shepherds in hope in this dark world and the opera ends with a choral apotheosis.

Music for the living

...and that means favorite colleagues of all genres, ages, and hair colors. We don't want to talk about the fact that there are so few good women in the scene anymore. We are present, and there are many of us. We hold our own elegantly and lightly alongside all the male cabaret. We are not in competition. We do our job – in cabaret, comedy, songs, slapstick, and poetry. On TV, online, and on stage. We are funny, political, wicked, moral, or absurd, we can sing, or not, and most of the time we're beautiful! And live, it's all much more exciting. "Frau Jahnke hat Einladung" means: We have time, and we let ourselves go. Every evening is different, each one is wonderful. And now a lot of men also come to our women's shows. Voluntarily! That's good! And it can be even better – we're working on it! Frau Jahnke

Gerburg Jahnke

The Federal Cabinet recently approved a catalogue of no fewer than 111 measures to combat loneliness. Loneliness, it states, increases the risk of obesity, depression, heart attacks, and Alzheimer's disease, and is a complex problem affecting society as a whole, one that incurs high costs and can become a threat to democracy. There are 14 million lonely people in Germany alone, and as a result of the pandemic, the number of those who describe themselves as at least occasionally lonely has risen to over 40 percent. Everyone knows what it feels like to be lonely.

Comedy of Loneliness

In collaboration with the charismatic music legend  Guildo Horn,  this tour will take audiences on a thrilling journey through the 80s and its greatest classics. For WDR 4 listeners,  Guildo Horn will take  on the role of choirmaster. WDR 4's greatest favorite hits from the 80s, as well as unforgettable classics, are in the master's hymnal, waiting to be sung along with the audience: from Cat Stevens to Abba , the Beatles, Queen , and Frank Sinatra .

Guildo Horn

CLASSICAL SYMPHONY begins with a single dancer on stage. Shortly thereafter he is joined by more: seven pairs dance to the music of Prokoviev, the women, in short tutus, the men, in tunics. Marcello Angelini, Tulsa Ballet’s Artistic Director says about this piece: »I was at the world premiere…and I couldn’t stop screaming.

Tulsa Ballet

In Schwebeland (Hoverland) good fights evil and in the world, a storm is on the rampage. Hanna, Natan, Aziza and Otto are on their way home when remarkable things occur to them and around them. A pancake stand crops up out of nowhere, a shack. When the storm dies down and Otto is being teased by malicious girls, the other three come to his rescue. But what is going on? Why do they all of a sudden have superpowers? The hitchhiker from the parallel world clears up the matter and asks for their help. The four of them must all by themselves find out who in this other world is truly good and who is evil. And what does it all have to do with a blue sow?

The Blue Sow

Rome 1800. After the French Revolution, Napoleon’s army invades Italy, the church offers tough resistance. The painter Cavaradossi receives a commission to paint a picture depicting Mary Magdalene for a church chapel. When his lover Floria Tosca notices that the figure in the picture resembles a woman who has been praying in the church, she explodes in jealousy. To boot, the revolutionary Angelotti, who has escaped from the state penitentiary and is hiding in the same church, seeks asylum with the help of his old friend Cavaradossi.

Tosca

Farmer Mr. Jones treats the animals on his farm anything but well. He locks them up, bullies them, and exploits them. When he forgets to feed his animals for several days while very drunk, the animals react to their hunger and collectively drive Jones off the farm.

EPSG:4326

Animal Farm

Schauspielhaus Bad Godesberg

The multi-award-winning Broadway hit musical, winner of eight Tony Awards, is coming to Bonn for the first time on the stage of the Junges Theater: a coming-of-age story of several teenagers who search for love and intimacy, dream of the future, philosophize, rebel, doubt themselves, despair, make mistakes, and must bear the consequences. The drama depicts the destructive consequences of ignorance, oppression, and a lack of communication between generations.

Spring Awakening

Junges Theater Bonn

Jupiter, the supreme god and supreme "womanizer," has declared the beautiful Alcmene the target of his seductive powers and, for this purpose, assumes the form of her husband Amphitryon. At the same time, the messenger of the gods, Mercury, annoys Amphitryon's servant, Sosias, by transforming into him and challenging his existence. But others have the same idea. So, who is Sosias, the real, the true Sosias? Apparently, no one can claim that with any justification. His supposed wife, Cléanthis, like Alcmene, also loses herself in the interplay of different statements.

Amphitryon

The main characters in Verdi’s reputed »accursed« opera are caught in a whirl of war and destruction. Don Alvaro in the process of eloping with Leonora is discovered by her father and Alvaro accidentally kills him. Before dying the father puts a curse on Leonora. Leonora’s brother Don Carlo resolves to pursue the two lovers and exact vengeance for his father’s murder. The characters over and over again try to evade their past, but it’s no use: the inexorable “forza del destino” (the power of fate) catches up with them.

The Power of Destiny (La forza del destino)

Let's imagine the following: The economic miracle after the Second World War took place not in Germany, but in Turkey, and German guest workers helped to rebuild Turkey. It was not Bonn that welcomed the new arrivals, but Istanbul. With a strikingly simple reversal of perspective and based on their own family experiences and questions they ask themselves about home and arrival, director Selen Kara, author Akın Emanuel Şipal and musician Torsten Kindermann tell the tragicomic life story of Bonn guest worker Klaus Gruber in the foreign and dazzling metropolis in ISTANBUL. In the 1960s, he had to leave behind his wife, children and his beloved football club, 1. FC Köln, and came to a country whose language was foreign to him. His wife Luise and children soon followed him. Initial difficulties were gradually overcome, and the family settled in. At some point, the children spoke Turkish better than German. The family settles into the vibrant city. Yet, a conflict remains: Klaus continues to build the house in Bonn he's been saving up for in Istanbul, even though he no longer seriously intends to return to Germany with his family. Between workbenches, bazaars, the vibrant nightlife, and teahouses (none of which serves hand-brewed filter coffee), we experience everyday life as an expat in German scenes, while the longing for happiness, love, and home is sung in Turkish. The focus is on the songs of Sezen Aksu, the queen of Turkish pop, who have accompanied three generations of Turkish society around the world.

Istanbul

"Would you have preferred to have belonged to a different nation (culture), and which one?" "How many times does a certain hope (e.g., a political one) have to go unfulfilled before you give up that hope, and can you do this without immediately creating another hope?" "Would you like to be immortal?" "Is there a classless sense of humor?"

What do we lack to be happy?

Paula meets Paul in front of her apartment building. They don't know each other and pass each other by. Everything could have turned out differently. That's often how it is. She works in a supermarket and is a single mother. At a funfair, she meets Colly – not exactly a jackpot, but at least a welcome distraction from her monotonous everyday life. And who knows, maybe he's the love of her life. She gets pregnant and gives birth to their child alone in the hospital. The doctor warns her against another pregnancy; she barely survived this one. Back home, Colly cheats on her with another woman. No, he wasn't the love of her life. Maybe she'll simply accept the offer from Saft, a well-off but much older businessman. He would be a father to the children and provide them with financial security. She doesn't love him, but it does sound tempting not to have to handle everything alone. A person can't just sleep and work all day. But one day she wants to really party, so she goes out. In a bar, she meets Paul a second time. She falls in love and throws herself passionately into the relationship. But Paul is married with a child. Life isn't kind to Paula again. They separate, and her despair causes Paula to lose her attention for a moment. A tragic accident changes everything. Paul can no longer stand his marriage and chooses Paula, whom he can win back. And now, for both of them, great happiness could finally come true. When Paula becomes pregnant for the third time, she has to make a decision – and chooses hope.

The Legend of Paul and Paula

Summ and Brumm are two strange creatures, strongly reminiscent of insects. While searching for a home, they've landed in an empty room. But where there are children, there can't be a bad place, so they settle in and gradually transform the space into a biotope of biodiversity. With life, sound returns, until everything buzzes and hums.

Buzz & Hum

Theater Marabu

With a new trio program, "Songs of My Life,"  Konstantin Wecker  , along with pianist  Jo Barnikel  and cellist  Fany Kammerlander, offers  very personal insights into his work. Songs have shaped his life – for over 50 years.

Konstantin Wecker

Four migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti and Guinea tell us their true stories.

216 million [UA]

Helge Schneider . Born August 30, 1955, in Mülheim an der Ruhr. Elementary school - high school - repeated 9th grade - left school in 1969 to learn a trade. Interior decorator - then architectural draftsman - then in 1972 at the Duisburg Conservatory of Music - two semesters. Then an apprenticeship in gardening and landscaping. Parallel music with his band - Helge Schneider Trio - first recording in 1975. In 1976, he invented his one-man show. Accompanied by Gleitmann, who played the semi-playback tape for him. Tram rides with equipment through half of Germany. Organ/drum duo with Charly Weiss - famous in Düsseldorf's Downtown jazz club. Bought a used tenor saxophone in 1979. Became a multi-instrumentalist (guitar, drums, double bass, cello, organ, trumpet, saxophone, pan flute, accordion, vocals, etc.). Had children (or rather, his wife!). Now has five children of his own, several more, and grandchildren. Written books. Recorded records. Played at least 3,000 shows. Theater productions. Composer. Film music. Silent film accompaniment. Still has to work, despite pension entitlements. Successful comedian/musician in Germany and the surrounding area. Worldwide tracking of his activities online. Initially declined an American tour ("too far"). Collaborated with Kluge for 20 years. Conversations/songs. Currently on tour with his band "Die Original Rübenschweine." 1.74 - 67 kilograms - Full hair - Green-brown eyes - Driver's license classes 1 and 3

Helge Schneider

The Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov  sits disillusioned in his apartment in 1938 Moscow. His plays have been removed from the schedules by the Soviet authorities, and the publication of his novels has been banned. Then the Vakhtangov Theater commissions him to adapt Miguel Cervantes ' DON QUIXOTE for the stage. Alonso Quijano sits just as dejectedly in his village of La Mancha, spending his time reading chivalric novels and losing himself in their ideals. He names himself Don Quixote and sets out to pursue the stories from his books. His companion and armor-bearer, Sancho Panza, dubs him the "Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance." Traveling on an old nag and a donkey, they aim to "restore to the world the irretrievably lost justice," free a supposed princess, and fight giants in the form of windmills.

Don Quixote

Who isn’t familiar with Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana? This piece most surely has never had such a multidisciplinary staging. Here different artistic disciplines are combined: a large orchestra plays for the dancers, two choruses, with adults and children, sing while in back video installations are screened. Over 135 people are involved in this performance.

Odesa National Academic Opera And Ballet Theatre

FREMD tells the story of a child. He is born in France to Shoah survivors. The family is stateless, homeless. A life in the diaspora. In the 1960s, the family immigrates to Germany. Of all places, to the country of the murderers who wiped out almost the entire family of the parents. The child feels a stranger. "I live somewhere in the middle of nowhere." How can one build a life in this place? What do people dream of here, and how do they look to the future in a place when the past lies like a veil over everything and the present means exclusion, racism, and anti-Semitism? The family sticks together. Perhaps sometimes it even holds on too tightly. The child feels responsible for their parents their entire life, remaining a child even when they are long grown up. The trauma weighs heavily on the family, not letting go. "If I am afraid of the stranger, how afraid is the stranger of me. And fear, fear is my companion in life." But the child survives and tries to continue dreaming.

Foreign

Whoever has money has power. And whoever doesn't will find it difficult to build a fortune. This was already the case in 1837 in London's Soho or in Brecht's Berlin - and it is no different today. Life without capitalism is no longer imaginable, and in a self-corrupting system, everything has become a commodity - love, morality, and misery. Businessmen and the police are just as criminal and devoid of morals as criminals and beggars - there is no distinction between the bourgeoisie and the crooks. The top and the bottom of society merge seamlessly into one another. What connects them is money, and good business probably justifies any immoral behavior.

The Threepenny Opera

“Vespertine” is a term used in biology to describe something ‘evening’, such as a flower that only blooms in the evening or an animal that becomes active at sunset. With her revolutionary VESPERTINE, BJÖRK created the most mysterious, erotic, introverted album of her career in 2001. In this sense, it is the opposite of an opera. But the variety of soundscapes created electronically and acoustically, the sensuality and immediacy of the voice that speaks to us, whispers, implores us, comforts us, confesses - open up a supernatural, epic dimension. This is how the story that makes this album transferable to the stage came about: a biology researcher and her doppelganger are the protagonists of this version of VERSPERTINE. Their laboratory in a snowy Nordic landscape is the shell of experience, memory, longing and listening. Here they deal with the question of the origin of life and become mothers themselves. A magical, mesmerizing spectacle about the human and celestial universe, the earth and nature is created on stage, while Björks music, arranged for an opera orchestra and voices, resounds from the stage in its fullness. The participation of the renowned Kölner Ensemble Musikfabrik makes this pop opera a special musical experience.

Evening

They represent the Bonn Republic, stand by while their men engage in politics, stand on the terraces of their Bad Godesberg villas and gaze at the Rhine river landscape, where the Nibelungen treasure is hidden somewhere. Gold and crowns, dented by rolling pebbles, like carnival medals, next to a Nazi emblem, quickly thrown into the water as the American tanks approached. Those who know too much and talk too much have their memories "corrected" in a luxury sanatorium.

Women in front of a river landscape (UA)

Felix Krull is a fool for everyone. Charming, sophisticated, and with ease. Early on, he discovered his love of acting, which paved the way for him, paving the way for him in ways one would never have thought possible. Ultimately, he looks back on a life full of deception and pretense, loneliness, and questions about his own identity.

Confessions of the imposter Felix Krull

A male and female performer face off in a kind of "battle." Who's cooler? Who's better at what? It's easy to decide who wins or loses, and what deserves likes is clearly defined. But who determines what deserves recognition and is "cool"? In a playful competition, the two attempt to overcome the boundaries of social attributions and expectations and discover new realms of possibility for themselves and the audience. A battle like an exercise in acknowledging difference. And a battle in which, as you watch, you learn a lot about yourself.

The same, only different

What does it mean when two people »fall« for each other? Weakness at the knees, a pounding heart, clammy hands, butterflies in the stomach – all these symptoms require a proven antidote – an elixir of love!  Donizetti in his opera probes with a wink the ups and downs that those loving and in love go through and he lets the lovers watching from his audience identify with them.

The Love Potion (L'elisir d'amore)

Mina must get out into the world. Together with her black lamb “Wölkchen” (Little Cloud) she follows the course of a stream. On their way they discover the magical power of music, live through many an adventure, and little by little make their world a bit friendlier and merrier.

Mina oder die Reise zum Meer (UA)

Insects have a dubious reputation among humans. They sting and bite, hide in nooks and crannies, and with their spindly legs, antennae, and compound eyes, are simply disgusting, or so the popular opinion goes. However, anyone who has ever taken a close look at a gold beetle will also notice how uniquely beautiful such an insect can be. And many insects are also extremely useful and essential for ecological balance. Beetles, for example, loosen the soil, compost waste, contribute to plant pollination, and control pests. Nevertheless, many species are high on the red list of endangered insects.

Bad Bugs

I can't take it anymore. Really, I've had enough, I'm about to burst. I've had enough. If I met a worthless fat man who wasn't completely on top of his game, I'd throw him in the dung and put my foot on his copper face. I'd beat the hell out of him, turn him to kindling, stomp him to a pulp, tear his arms off, play drums with them, and teach him the proper way to play the flute—if I wanted to, I could... But of course I won't. My sense of justice is like a gold scale. And even though my index finger itches to blame a specific person for the fragile state of the world and to take revenge on them through physical revenge, I obviously won't. I appreciate the achievements of civilization. But I've experienced injustice, and I have to take a stand. So I'll stick myself to the street. No, just kidding, I'll just sign a petition. No, just kidding, I'll stand by a ferry with a pitchfork and see if the politician dares to get off. No, just kidding, I'll write a long, angry piece for the arts section. No, just kidding, I'll become an Instagram activist. No, just kidding, I'll throw Molotov cocktails and kidnap the employers' president. No, just kidding, I'll put on a play on the topic and then I can finally sleep peacefully again, because I've publicly acted injustice. Or not?

Kohlhaas (can't get no satisfaction)

Baltimore, the early 1960s: Tracy, a schoolgirl, has long dreamt of dancing on the big stage of the local TV talent show – but does she have the nerve?  Her looks aren’t particularly photogenic, she isn’t at all skinny – she doesn’t in the least meet the TV show’s ideal of beauty. But it is her open, sincere, and natural manner that impresses the jury. Tracy sticks up for her fellow companions especially when they are treated badly. Together with her best friend Penny she takes up the cause of social justice: She wants that there be more black dancers in the show. After personal ups and downs, street demonstrations and other turbulence there is a happy ending: she gets the prince and the crown while her extravagant hairstyle in TV starts a new trend. The pigheaded bad guys are beaten, and the show is lastly integrated – notably only one small step on the way to more social justice.

Hairspray

Tamino, a young prince, falls head over heels in love with the picture of the beautiful Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night. The Queen promises Tamino Pamina’s hand in marriage if he should succeed in freeing her from the clutches of majestic Sarastro. Tamino sets out with the amusing bird-catcher Papageno on a journey to the land of this mysterious ruler. The magic flute – a present from the Queen – will protect him on his way. The twosome together goes through a series of trials in which they are to maintain a vow of silence, prove themselves resolute and unwavering, and also demonstrate their courage.  While they oppose the forces of darkness, they learn the meaning of wisdom, friendship, and love.

The Magic Flute

The often painful vitality of female embodiments takes center stage. Author Katja Brunner doesn't mince words. Her play is a wild verbal tirade centered on the female body: bodies of all ages, every shape. Including the female body that knows how to stage and position itself, that gives birth, ages—or empties itself through vomiting. Then, for example, the chorus of bulimics speaks, listing all the things they vomit on: fatherland, motherland, EU, fathers and their fathers, vomiting for you, against us, a little for me.

The Hand is a lonely hunter

When Donald Trump was first elected President of the United States in 2016, Elfriede Jelinek began writing AM KÖNIGSPEG (The Royal Road). In November 2024, two weeks after Trump's renewed victory, she published her epilogue to this royal road: FINAL VICTORY.

On the Royal Road / Final Victory

Passion and talent aren't really something you can learn – you either have the necessary entertainment tools or you don't.  Max Mutzke  , the exceptional German talent, has already more than impressively demonstrated that he has an abundant gift for captivating his audience. He has long been an indispensable part of a QUATSCH KEINE OPER! series! And he's not the only one who seems to enjoy the Bonn opera stage. He also delights his audiences by returning time and time again, always with a different top-class surprise guest. Carolin & David Kebekus, Marialy Pacheco & Cassandra Steen, SASHA , and Stefanie Heinzmann are just a few of his previous guests. Prepare to be surprised by who  will be on stage  with Max Mutzke this time!

Max Mutzke & Friends

Gelsomina, a simple-minded, naïve young woman, is sold by her mother under precarious circumstances to Zampanò. Zampanò is a brutal strongman. He takes the young woman from town to town exhibiting himself as a street performer. During their travels and their life on the road (Italian: la strada) Zampanò treats Gelsomina cruelly despite her innocent trust of him and her willingness to please him. When Gelsomina becomes acquainted with the high wire artist Il Matto, she has a change of heart. Gelsomina stands between two men, who embody two opposing aspects of life and love.

Alina Cojocaru & Ac Workroom

He sees things and hears sounds that no one else perceives. He becomes increasingly absorbed in the idea that a terrible, unknown being is taking possession of him. The invisible becomes an obsession, until one day he is faced with the realization: "I can no longer want, but someone wants for me."

Matthias Brandt & Jens Thomas

"Man is unhappy because he does not know that he is happy." So much for Dostoyevsky . Paradise – a place of longing, a utopia? Or perhaps something else entirely? Does it await us at the end of our lives? Is it lost, do we carry it within us, or can we even reawaken it? Or is paradise not even necessary for happiness? This evening, a finely crafted blend of texts and sounds, featuring two internationally acclaimed audience favorites, revolves around such thoughts and questions. Excerpts from the Bible and the Koran, as well as texts by Goethe, Nietzsche, Droste-Hülshoff, Jelinek, Brecht , and others, provide multi-voiced answers and raise new questions, reflected in impressionistic, disillusioned, and hopeful sounds.

Daniel Hope & Sebastian Koch

As a mosaic is made up of many tiles which, put together, make a greater picture, this dance performance is assembled from many different choreographies that together make for an unforgettable evening of dance.

Malandain Ballet Biarritz

At the turn of the year, Theater Bonn takes opera audiences to the land where the lemons bloom! In a colorful, varied program, guests and ensemble as well as the chorus and extra chorus of Theater Bonn present a glittering opera gala that combines the best of the rich tradition of bel canto and dramatic opera. Experience unforgettable arias, duets and ensembles from masterpieces by VINCENZO BELLINI, GIOACHINO ROSSINI, GAETANO DONIZETTI, GIACOMO PUCCINI, PIETRO MASCAGNI, GIUSEPPE VERDI - and a few surprises! The top soloists will bring the great emotions, passionate melodies and gripping stories of these works to life with impressive virtuosity and deep expression. An evening that will make the hearts of all opera lovers beat faster. No one will sleep!

Nobody sleeps!

Musical saws, burning trees, and musical roars of insane perfection: The night will certainly not be silent when Salut Salon invites you to their Christmas concert – although this Christmas classic will, of course, be featured.

Salut Salon

The end of the year is supposed to be quiet and contemplative, a cozy celebration with the family and to see the good in the world, a positive end to the year by candlelight, oh how nice that would be. And suddenly it hits us with full force. Evil is back and spreading. Creeping up from behind so we don't forget there's a war on. And here in this country people are asking themselves: Have we all gone mad? Our government is at halftime, old coal-fired power plants are being restarted, new parties are being founded - what are we playing at here? Dodgeball or the world is topsy-turvy? You have to pull yourself together not to lose your sense of humor. Schroeder helps and blows the whistle: "That's it!" - the only correct review of the year.

Florian Schroeder

THE NUTCRACKER has been since 1892, a classical Christmastime ballet. In Youri Vamos’ staging, which had its premiere in 1988 in the Opera Bonn, the original story based on E.T. A. Hoffman’s »The Nutcracker and the Mouse King« is fused with Charles Dickens’ »A Christmas Carol«. There is more to this production than simply celebrating Christmas.

The Savior is here! Finally. We want to be redeemed, because we are all guilty: consumerism, vacations, partying, drugs, Netflix, and Bayern Munich don't permanently free us from the constant feeling of powerlessness. We're always on the wrong side, even though we want to do everything right.

Atze Schröder

At Hansel and Gretel’s home there is rarely anything nourishing to eat: The family can simply not afford good food. One day the children see in their kitchen a jug full of milk and jump for joy at the idea of their getting rice pudding. Their mother comes and tells them off and unintentionally knocks over the milk jug. In a fit, as punishment, she impulsively sends the children off into the woods to gather strawberries. It occurs to her too late that a wicked witch is lurking there who likes to turn little children into gingerbread…

Hansel and Gretel

Telling each other stories can be encouraging. It can distract from everyday life, from all the things that sometimes make life so difficult. Jonathan Löwe knows this too. That's why he tells his seriously ill little brother Karl, nicknamed "Krümel," stories about the land of Nangijala. Because that's where you go when you die. Nangijala is a fairytale land, Jonathan promises. A land full of legends and stories and, above all, a place where you experience nothing but adventures all day long. But completely unexpectedly, Jonathan dies before his brother when he saves Krümel from a burning house.

The Brothers Lionheart

What is happiness? A fast car? Winning the lottery? Finding new love?

Özcan Cosar

After being derailed by a stroke in Vienna,  Joachim Meyerhoff hopes to find his feet again with a fresh start in Berlin. But everything turns out differently than expected. The new city is getting on his nerves and his work as a writer and actor is becoming more and more difficult.

Joachim Meyerhoff

The tiger mosquito child is lying in the tiger mosquito crib and has a fever. The child is lying in the next bed and also has a fever. But lying around is super boring, so the mosquito flies off. And then it happens. Child and mosquito meet and... become friends. At first, it's a friendship with obstacles: The mosquito is always better and faster at catching and hiding, but at arm wrestling, it always comes up short. And what on earth does "Wömmps Wösl" actually mean? Together they experience adventures that could only arise from a child's imagination. But how is the child supposed to explain to its mother who its new friend is.

Mosquito has a fever

The point of departure for the piece KØTER is the Jante law. An originally fictitious code of behavior from a novel which is meant to be a part of Scandinavian identity. The rules of this code induce behavior that the choreographer and new head of the Danish Dance Theater, Marina Mascarell, is familiar with from her own Spanish culture.

Danish Dance Theatre

The sorceress Alcina has everything: power, money, respect. She is loved and feared. She is stunningly beautiful, astute, and highly dangerous. But does all that make her happy? She is in love with Ruggiero and is forced continually to lie to him to keep him by her. Does Alcina know at all true affection, or is her life only illusion and deception?

Alcina

Many people know  Gregor Meyle  from numerous TV shows such as "Sing meinen Song – das Tauschkonzert" (Sing My Song – the Exchange Concert) , "Meylensteine" (Meylensteine)  , and currently "Your Songs  ," for which even big-name TV stars like Robbie Williams traveled to sit on the ARD couch between Meyle and Jeanette Biedermann . TV viewers adore the songwriter with his hat, glasses, and guitar. But anyone who hasn't yet  experienced a Gregor Meyle concert should make it happen in 2024. Because an unplugged  Meyle  tour is always a live event of a special kind.

Gregor Meyle & Band

Elisabeth is confident. Although she's currently unemployed, has no business license, and still has a fine to pay, what she can rely on is herself. Or rather, her body. She wants to sell it to the anatomical institute for scientific experiments after her death. In return, she hopes to receive 150 marks immediately. That would be enough money for her business license. And with that, she could start her own business and work again. And once she had a job, the world would be her oyster again! Unfortunately, Elisabeth seems to have been completely misinformed. The institute has no interest in acquiring her body. Times are tough. The lonely taxidermist still wants to help and lends her the money. She, in turn, uses this to pay off her previous conviction. Of course, he would never have given his hard-earned money to a criminal. He reports her for fraud, and Elisabeth is sentenced to prison. Once free again, she joins the long line of job seekers in front of the welfare office. Without success. By chance, she meets the police officer Alfons. The two fall in love, but Elisabeth keeps quiet about her run-in with the law. When this comes out, he abandons her to avoid jeopardizing his career. Elisabeth is alone again. Without prospects and worn down by everyday life, she has lost faith in a better society, her love for Alfons, and her hope that she will still find happiness.

Faith, love, hope

Bertil is once again alone at home: his parents are away at work. Suddenly he hears the pitter-patter of footsteps. It is the elf Nils Karlsson, also known as Nit, who has just moved into the mouse hole under the bed. The composer Thierry Tidrow wrote an imaginative children’s opera from Astrid Lindgren’s famous story.

Nils Karlsson Däumling

Meters of cables, tons of heavy lighting, and brilliant spotlights are part of our technical team's daily routine. The stage is completely redesigned for each production, and numerous people are needed backstage for each performance. In one hour, we'll demonstrate the capabilities of the technical team, as well as other departments like the props department, in HAIRSPRAY's set design studio. Our colleagues will give you an exclusive introduction to the technology on our theater stage.

Technikshow

The TAO Dance Theater was founded in 2008 by the choreographer Tao Ye, Duan Ni and Wang Hao. It pursues an innovative approach to dance known as “the circular movement system”. Committed to a »pure dance« aesthetic, which avails of the »ritual repetition of natural body movement« and which calls upon the audience to concentrate on what is essential in the repetitive gestures, devoid of representation, narrative, and context.

Tao Dance Theatre

It's summer, Isa has escaped from a psychiatric hospital and is now on foot on a kind of road trip through the country. "The stars are wandering, and I'm wandering too," says Isa. She is 14 and so much more than that. You can find the whole world in her, if you want to. Lightness and heaviness, presence and memory, as well as death and life. "Isabel, ruler of the universe, the planets and everything. If I want the sun to stand still, the sun will stand still," she claims, and the further you trudge barefoot through the world with her, the more unequivocal this statement becomes. Isa has her own way of thinking, her own reality with its own rules—or none at all. She relentlessly exposes herself to life in all its facets. She approaches every encounter on this journey with such unconditional intensity, mixed with naivety, curiosity, courage, strength, and determination, that you stand there in amazement. Sometimes you want to warn, and sometimes you just want to witness unconditionally. A bargeman, a writer, a child, a dead hunter... and somewhere in between, Tschick and Maik. Almost by chance, Herrendorf's two novels , TSCHICK and PICTURES OF YOUR GREAT LOVE, intertwine at this point, yet remain separate works. The girl from the garbage dump is now the protagonist, and we experience the encounter with the two boys, who are on their way to Wallachia in a Lada, from her perspective.

Pictures of your great love

How does one recognize a good song? Who decides on what basis it is to be judged?  Do you go by the opinion of the old masters, who insist that their own rules be followed to the letter, or by what you feel deep down in your heart, maybe a feeling of passionate love that you believe to contain some immediate truth? Is there perhaps a golden mean?

The Mastersingers of Nuremberg

Every person is an abyss – no one knows this better than those who stand inexorably before it. Like the penniless soldier Woyzeck, who does everything humanly possible to provide for his girlfriend Marie and their child. He is his captain's henchman and barber and a doctor's guinea pig. At the mercy of his poverty, Woyzeck suffers a daily life dominated by ridicule, agitation, drill, contempt, and violence. His friend Andres suffers a similar fate, but at least he never gives up hope for a peaceful revolution from below. Marie hopes for a more independent life, but apart from providing full-time care for her child, she doesn't know how she can achieve this. Her neighbor Margret observes social conditions very closely. A rage is growing inside her that is slowly spreading to everyone else.

Woyzeck

On October 7, 2023, the terrorist group Hamas carried out brutal massacres against the Israeli civilian population. Since then, the military conflict in the Middle East and around the world has escalated. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is life-threatening. Jews all over the world no longer feel safe. Antisemitic and anti-Muslim sentiments and crimes are on the rise. Protests are being cleared by the police. The fronts have become extremely entrenched. Many people seem to find it difficult to distinguish between a gesture of individual solidarity and the political differentiation of the conflict. How can one maintain individual and collective humanity in light of these events and the gruesome images in the media?

How to Remain Humanist After a Massacre in 17 Steps

Conny, a civil servant, has been in the job for decades. Her colleagues – Petra, who breathes deeply, Gisela, Doris, Dilara, and Ronja, who are the change – have become like family to her, for better or worse. The daily madness of bureaucracy bonds them together. Together they brave piles of files, management chatter, digitalization, and far too self-confident citizens. And when all else fails: "That's not my responsibility, sweetie." Between coffee and smoke breaks, they discuss, gossip, and argue – and curiously monitor their colleagues' love lives! But don't worry, Conny remains in control and true to her mantra: "Nothing has to change for everything to stay the way it is!"

Conny from the block

Hamburg. You know how it is: sometimes the bad things just don't stop. And that's the case here too, they're doing it again! After the huge success and 150,000 viewers of NUTTEN, KOKS UND FREISCHER STRAWBERRIES,  Mary Roos  in her retirement and  Wolfgang Trepper  in the anti-aggression course were so bored...

Mary Roos & Wolfgang Trepper

What would have happened if, during the First World War, Win had never received the mail sent from the front by her husband, gunner Frank Bracey? How had her life been different?

Lucia Lacarra Ballet

Johann König  was never really drawn to the stage. He wanted to become a teacher. A physical education teacher for biology and general knowledge. That was the plan. But it didn't work out. After 19 semesters, the audience, with their affection and their money, forced him to devote himself entirely to humor. Thus, he stumbled straight onto the slippery slope of sophisticated evening entertainment, from which there is no turning back.

Johann König

SWAY evokes the lyrical movement language for which Medhi Walerski has become known. Fluid, harmonious transitions between duets and the company of seven dancers create timeless moments as fleeting as the hope described by Emily Dickinson in her 1862 poem " Hope is the thing with feathers ," which inspired this piece. An ode to movement and its ability to communicate without words.

Sway / Bolero X / Frontier

In GNAWA, Nacho Duato explores his roots, those of his ancestors, and his connection to the Mediterranean. With this work, he attempts to convey the sensuality of the landscape and the sensitivity of its inhabitants through movement. With evocative music full of Spanish and North African sounds, Gnawa captivates with its dazzling power and sensual elegance, uniting the spirituality and organic rhythm of the Mediterranean.

Four By Duato Gnawa / Freedom / Duende / Cantus

After its great success in 2025, the production returns to Bonn for the second consecutive year! Who doesn't know Carl Orff 's Carmina Burana ? In this multidisciplinary production from Ukraine, all artistic disciplines merge: a large orchestra plays for the dancers and the adult and children's choirs, while video installations are played in the background. Over 135 people are involved in this evening.

Carmina Burana

Hervé Koubi describes SOL INVICTUS in his working notes as follows: The universe, the passage of the seasons, how do we fit into these vast, swirling, changing spaces? This space, connected to the meaning of our lives, is limited by its beginning and its end; our fate is equal within it, and that is why—connected to and confronted with it—I dance.

The Unconquered Sun

The evening begins with the award-winning solo "PODE SER," a solo about the difficulties of being oneself. " Pode ser " means " It could be " in Portuguese. Through the angry body of a dancer, the question of being and non-being, of being able to be, of wanting to be, of having to be, reaches us. A solo about all the roles we play, will play, and have played. And about those we could have been, perhaps.

Theater Bonn

4 - 5 Feb, 2026

Sway / Bolero X / Frontier

13 - 14 Mar, 2026

Four By Duato Gnawa / Freedom / Duende / Cantus

1 - 2 Apr, 2026

Carmina Burana

28 - 30 May, 2026

The Unconquered Sun

Jun 14, 2026

Identity Pode Ser / Maldoned

29 - 30 Jan, 2026

Tradition of the future

8 - 9 Jan, 2026

Love Room

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