The history of the Theaterhaus Jena dates back to the second half of the 19th century, but its current form began to take shape in 1991, when the city’s councillor for culture at the time convinced a group of graduates of the renowned Ernst Busch University Berlin to create a new ensemble in Jena. The theatre began to profile itself as an experimental company seeking an innovative theatrical language and reaching out to young and open-minded audiences. In recent years, the theatre has become a dynamic artistic platform and is known above all as a “free laboratory for young talents and new forms”. Since last season, it has been artistically directed by a five-member team of Azeret Koua, Céline Karow, Daniele Szeredy, Josef Bäcker and Lukas Pergande, who replaced the Wunderbaum collective. The latter was officially in place between 2018 and 2022, but until 2024 the theatre was led by Maarten van Otterdijk and Lizzy Timmers in collaboration with the ensemble board, who paid for the “loose continuation” of the Wunderbaum era. Theaterhaus Jena places great emphasis on a collective creative and decision-making process as well as close collaboration with the entire ensemble. The repertoire regularly includes texts by contemporary playwrights as well as original productions that are characterised by their desire to go beyond the boundaries of “traditional” theatre.