The protest began on Friday and swelled over the weekend after fruitless negotiations between activists, city authorities and the new artistic director Chris Dercon, the former head of London’s Tate Modern. “The talks have ended for now without results,” the Volksbühne theatre said on its Facebook page. Volksbühne artists have been strongly critical of the theatre’s new director Dercon, who replaced the renowned Frank Castorf, who led the avant garde theatre for almost a quarter of a century. A prominent theatre director as well as artistic director, Castorf was credited with turning the Volksbühne into one of Europe’s leading venues with his bold, controversial and often lengthy productions. Critics fear his tenure will herald a shift to less provocative and more commercial productions at the heavily subsidised Volksbühne.

Source: The Guardian September 24, 2017 11:03 UTC