Since the time of Friedrich Schiller’s famous composition of Don Karlos, which was written while Schiller was working as the Mannheim National Theatre’s in-house writer, our National Theatre has also been known as Schiller’s stage. As in 1787, when Don Karlos had its world premiere in Mannheim, the premiere of Don Karlos, directed by Schmiedleitner will inaugurate this year’s international Schiller days.

Drama in Mannheim is characterised by contemporary author’s theatre and commissioned works. Excellent examples are the world premieres and German premieres by Theresia Walser and Karl-Heinz Ott (Die Ganze Welt), Felicia Zeller (Gespräche mit Astronauten), Kathrin Röggla (die unvermeidlichen), Philipp Löhle (supernova (wie gold entsteht)), Lukas Bärfuss (Malaga) and more recent works by Syha and Neumann.

The theatre’s quality is also shaped by a continuous collaboration with directors such as Cilli Drexel (in-house writer, Der Menschenfeind), Palsson (Verwanzt), Bieto (Bernada Albas Haus), Schmiedleitner (Don Karlos) and Bücker (Der Besuch der alten Dame).

We are proud to count on one of the most prestigious present day dramatists, Ewald Palmetshofer, as our in-house writer.

With our special project, Utopia Station, we attempt to advance social awareness through discussions regarding the future, cultures of innovation and utopian ideas with experts from the metropolitan area. We are pleased to offer this project with the kind collaboration of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

To commemorate the great legacy which Friedrich Schiller left behind for our theatre, we dedicate a special event in his honour every two years. As we also consider Schiller as a pioneer among historians this year the motto of the 16 International Schiller days will be “Macht Geschichte!” (“Make history!”).