Annual report for the 2021/22 season of the Zurich Schauspielhaus –
Diverse program in a pandemic season
On the occasion of the General Assembly on January 24, 2023, the Schauspielhaus Zürich AG publishes its annual report for the 2021/22 season. In the third season under the intention of Nicholas Steman and Benjamin von Blomberg The entire program could be shown in front of an audience for the first time.
However, the pandemic is also having a massive impact on this. A total of 18 premieres were shown. Among the most visited new plays of the season were among others The visit of the old lady and the family piece King of the Frogsstaged by co-director Nicolas Stemann and Milo Raus William Tell.
Around 80,000 spectators attended a total of 464 events at the Schauspielhaus. Guest performances and invitations to international festivals, including the Biennale di Venezia and the Wiener Festwochen, played a role: 60 performances were played outside of Zurich. As an associate artist, Nicolas Stemann helped organize the Holland Festival, which featured four productions by the Zurich Schauspielhaus.
The multiple award-winning production Simply the end of the world by Christopher Rüping was also awarded the NESTOY prize. The Kurt Hübner Director’s Prize went to Leonie Böhm for her Medea*-Staging. Despite the artistic richness of the programme, the number of visitors, especially from January 2022, did not meet expectations. The financial statements close with a zero for the third year in a row thanks to the release of Covid provisions. Income from sponsoring and fundraising measures increased thanks to long-term partnerships with Migros Culture Percentage, Swiss Re and Zürcher Kantonalbank, foundations, private patrons and new supporters.
After two seasons, which were strongly influenced by the pandemic, the entire program could finally be shown live in front of the audience again in the decisive one – thanks to vaccines and relaxed Covid measures. In addition to the mask requirement, the Schauspielhaus is relying on two-thirds of the available seats being occupied until the beginning of April 2022. In this context, the Pfauen booked a total of 55,542 entries (57% occupancy rate) in the 2021/22 season. The best was visited The visit of the old lady (12,528 entries) by Nicolas Stemann, increase from William Tell (7,521 admissions) in the production of Milo Rau and Stemann’s family play King of the Frogs (7’330 entries).
In the shipbuilding hall, a total of 57 performances were shown in front of a total of 10,836 spectators (64% occupancy). The play recorded the most admissions at this venue Short interviews with nasty men in the production by Yana Ross (3,551 admissions).
In the box, a total of 9,186 entries were counted in 80 performances, with bull stress directed by Suna Gürler (2’452 admissions) and Orpheusstaged by Wu Tsang and the collective Moved by the Motion (1’405 admissions), were the best attended.
During the season, 44 performances – and thus almost 9% of all planned performances – had to be canceled due to illnesses in the ensemble.
Cooperations and guest performances
In cooperation with the Kunsthalle Zürich, Trajal Harrell brought his trilogy in March 2022 Porca Miseria at the end, for the dance piece Deathbed, danced by the Schauspielhaus Zürich Dance Ensemble, celebrated its world premiere in the Löwenbräu-Areal. The project was also part of the collaboration with the Kunsthalle dancer of the yeardating back to Trajal Harrell’s 2019 Dancer of the Year award.
Among the highlights of the guest performance season were the invitations to the Venice Biennale, the Holland Festival in Amsterdam and the Vienna Festival: Yana Ross’ production was in Venice Short interviews with mean men – 22 types of loneliness to see – as well as Wu Tsang’s video installation in the Arsenale area Of whalesdie on their film Moby Dick; or The Whale based. The film, which premiered in March 2022 with live accompaniment by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in the Pfauen, was shown to an international audience in Venice’s Teatro Goldoni in April. The realization was made possible thanks to the support of the LUMA Foundation, TBA21-Academy, the Hartwig Art Foundation and private sponsors.
The 75th Holland Festival was curated by Co-Artistic Director Nicolas Stemann in his role as Associate Artist together with Angélique Kidjo. In addition to his own production The visit of the old lady were the theater productions in Amsterdam The Ring of the Nibelung by Christopher Ruping, Wu Tsangs Moby Dick; or The Whale and Trajal Harrells Deathbed shown. The Ring of the Nibelung was also shown three times in the Danube city on the occasion of the Vienna Festival. The dance pieces that are in great demand at international festivals also include The Cologne concert by Trajal Harrell; the piece has made guest appearances in Brussels, Leipzig and Rome, among other places. A total of 60 performances were staged at 20 theaters and festivals outside of Zurich during the reporting season.
Artistic mediation theater and school; youth clubs
Again, a series of new projects for the artistic communication of theater for schoolchildren and young people could be realized. As part of the “Premiere Class” project, two school classes accompanied the development process of the production Bullestress by Suna Gürler and developed the audio introduction. In cooperation with the “Welcome to School” organization, an optional theater project for young people with a refugee or migrant background was launched.
On the occasion of the BLICKFELDER FESTIVAL, which was organized by the association “Festival for a Young Audience Zurich” in June 2022, the Schauspielhaus Zürich, as a partner, made the Schiffbau-Halle available as a venue for three international theater and dance productions. The theater format “Theater Year”, in which five young people gain an insight into various areas of work in the theater during one season, celebrated its premiere with its final production K at the festival. From September 2021 to May 2022, four youth clubs, consisting of people between the ages of 14 and 24, will also meet to develop a play together and play it in front of an audience at the end of the season.
awards
Based on Christopher Rüping’s production Simply the end of the world after Jean-Luc Lagarce had already been voted Production of the Year 2021 by the specialist publication ‘Theater heute’, it was also honored with the NESTROY Prize 2021. In addition, Leonie Böhm received for her production Medea* the renowned Kurt Hübner Director’s Prize. In 2021, the Gold Art Prize, donated by the Californian non-profit organization Gold House, went to the artist collective around house director Wu Tsang, Moved by the Motion. And Christiane Jatahy, Related Artist at the Schauspielhaus, received the Golden Lion for her life’s work at the 50th Festival Internazionale del Teatro at the Biennale di Venezia.
annual result
The income from the reporting season consisted of the regular operating contribution from the city of Zurich (CHF 38.3 million), a contribution from the charitable fund of the Canton of Zurich (CHF 1.5 million – with which a new stage manager system in shipbuilding could be co-financed), Touring income (CHF 1.1 million), the generous contributions of the partners, sponsors, foundations and private patrons of the theater (CHF 1.9 million) and from ticket sales (CHF 2.75 million ). The latter, resulting from the low number of viewers, remained well below expectations. The operating result is CHF -2.05 million. The loss was caused by a withdrawal from the Covid-19 provision for the following years, which was approved by the city after a thorough examination. This means that the annual accounts of the Schauspielhaus Zürich AG close with a zero for the third time in a row.