Dates:
Dates: Monday, February 2 – Friday, February 27, 2026 (4 weeks, Mon–Fri)
This February 2–27, 2026, a new kind of directing intensive launches in Berlin.
When Arthaus Berlin reshaped its curriculum earlier this year, its Directing Devised Performance program might have been lost. Instead, faculty who created the intensive came together to carry it forward as it was conceived - independent, artist-centered, and committed to creative risk and discovery.
Creating devised performance requires curiosity, courage, and a willingness to take risks. Within a supportive and collaborative environment, course participants experiment with both physical and conceptual approaches to making original work. Grounded in established techniques but aimed at individual discovery, the course offers practical tools for exploring presence, space, and time in a performance context. It also addresses the simple but profound challenge of how to start, how to move from an idea to a working concept, by offering dramaturgical pathways into the creative process. Through the practice of trial and error, artists will cultivate the confidence and freedom needed to discover and share their personal artistic voice.
Our philosophy
Keep learning. Keep growing.
Trust your intuition.
Create innovative work.
Faculty
Paul Budraitis - Director, actor, and movement specialist known for his work in experimental and devised performance both in the US and Europe.
Elif Sözer - Berlin-based theatre artist, teacher, and dramaturg specializing in physical and devised performance, with a background spanning Istanbul, Vienna, and Berlin.
Jelle De Wit** - Belgian director, performer, and coach whose artistic and teaching work explores presence, embodiment, and composition as the structuring of meaning beyond words.
Program Overview
The intensive runs for 4 weeks, 5 days per week, with 3 hours of class and 1 hour of independent studio time each day. Designed for intermediate and emerging directors, it offers a laboratory for deepening craft, testing new ideas, and building an international network in Berlin.
Tuition Options
Early Bird: €1,350 - apply & pay by December 7, 2025
Standard: €1,500 - apply & pay byJanuary 16, 2026
Scholarships: Two partial scholarships (€900 tuition each) available - details in the application.
Location
Studios at DOCK 11 (Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg): fully equipped rehearsal spaces, naturally lit, and well connected to public transit.
Address: DOCK 11, Kastanienallee 79, 10435 Berlin
Application Timeline
● Applications open: October 21, 2025
● Early Bird application & payment deadline: December 7, 2025
● Final application deadline: January 16, 2026
● Final payment due: January 16, 2026
👉 Apply here: Directing Devised Performance - February 2026 / Berlin
If you’re a director ready to push your practice, challenge the field, and join the next wave of international performance-makers in Berlin, we’d love to hear from you.
Let’s build the future of performance together.