Schauspiel Leipzig

The Schauspiel Leipzig at Bowling-Green opposite the opera is one of the most significant German spoken-theatre houses, tracing back to a theatrical tradition reaching to 1766 — then as Theater am Rannstädter Thor under the theatre reformer Friederike Caroline Neuber, who fought here against improvised comedy and for a literary drama. The current new building at Augustusplatz, opened in 2002 according to designs by Behet Bondzio Lin Architekten, replaced the GDR-era predecessor building demolished in the 1990s. The house has three performance spaces: the Große Bühne with 844 seats, the Diskothek as a flexible second space, and the experimental Hinterbühne. Under the directorship of Enrico Lübbe (since 2013), the Schauspiel Leipzig has been repeatedly voted Theatre of the Year and has gained international attention; productions by Armin Petras, Claudia Bauer, and Philipp Preuss have been invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen. The house maintains a decidedly political and formally experimental profile and is considered one of the most important East German ensemble theatres since reunification.