Theater der Dinge 2025 – International Festival of contemporary Figure and Object Theater

Autonomy was reserved for human beings for a very long time: only someone who had a consciousness and could independently make decisions was deemed to be self-determined and autonomous. After some species of animals were first initially determined to have autonomy, the term has now also been expanded to objects in recenty years: the digital transformation has created things and systems that demonstrate a certain degree of self-management and flexibility. They fulfill tasks and make a choice, they learn and develop themselves. In doing so, of course, is not a matter of actual agency: human programming decisions continue to be central factors of influence. In its 2025 edition, Theater der Dinge questions where human beings and their social systems are located in a world where things increasingly seem to be able to act autonomously. Proceeding from very diverse forms of theater with puppets, robots and objects, the participating artists develop a wide variety of points of access in their contents. 18 productions, installations, tryouts and workshops invite the audience to playful give themselves over to the exciting field of digital autonomy.