Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmidt on LinkedIn: Generalintendanz (w/m/d) im Staatstheater Braunschweig (2024)

State Theater Kassel: Disputes and PowerDisputes between an artistic director/CEO and an orchestra are always a sign that serious conflicts are emerging beneath the outwardly "feel-good" surface. This is what happened in Kassel, the city of Documenta, which also has a state theater that is financed by the state of Hesse and the city. The recently established General Director (Generalintendant) still is the only and last decider. But of course he has to respect the established democratic bodies. This includes maintaining good contact with the orchestra's board in order to show his efforts that he is capable of managing a large house with many artists and artistic collectives. In my view, the main problem is that the desire for unrestricted power on the one side, and the legitimate control of this power on the other is no longer guaranteed when letters are dictated from top to bottom, problems emerge in the public and conflicts are resolved before the court. Trust and loyalty have gone. They are the major lubricants for each organization. If they are gone, there will be no peace between the former partners."By statute, we are a hierarchical company that needs correctives," is the main comment of the General. Unfortunately, this was true, but it is no longer. Theater is a place of the commons. Empathy and participation are two pillars of the kind of new theater organizations of the 21. century. Why do we lose time in the transformation process? This happens in so many cultural places, with every single man announced for an artistic CEO position, who will take on this new function without a doubt. Every director has the right to reorganize a theater and turn a "General" position into a team of leaders. It's impossible for a house this big to be run by one single artist because either the leadership suffers or the art. In this interview, in the words spoken, I see the complete unwillingness to share power. But a lot has changed in the last 10 years. In the Wiesbaden State Theater, the same federal state b.t.w., in contrary, they have done it much better: two women will share the function and direct the State theater together. Why is there not a single example of a successful men's team in Germany, and why can women do it so perfectly well? The only two men who succeeded, albeit in Switzerland, were chased away because they were supposedly too "woke" for the conservative media and city politics. It looks like, if politicians are still looking for the "strong male hand" (and genius), like the Cultural Director of the City of Cologne, who openly answered in a round table discussion, in wich I asked for a higher rate of women in the selection process: "There is no single woman who can do it, to be a good director of the Cologne Dramatic Theater." https://lnkd.in/eiQfYCjj

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I'm not familiar with the specifics of the case in Kassel, but based on the interview the conclusions here seem a bit bold to me. It's standard practice in most employment contracts to include clauses that prohibit the leaking of internal information, and this doesn't necessarily indicate a toxic culture within the theatre, as seems to be implied here. Also, communication from management to collectives through letters is not an uncommon practice.Furthermore, the women who are supposedly doing it "perfectly well" still owe the proof of concept, because they will only be in charge from next summer. May their ideas and plans succeed, but we just don't know yet. And when it comes to directors' teams, the aforementioned leaders from Schauspielhaus Zürich are not the only directors' team in that city that was only in office for a short time. It's not my intention to suggest that shared directorship is the reason for these short tenures, but we also don't have any evidence that it is inherently superior. Also in Zurich, we've seen a single artistic director successfully modernize the Opernhaus Zürich artistically while maintaining or even strengthening a strong connection with the audience, taking some pressure off the system while still keeping it financially stable. (Admittedly I am biased here, but I think the success is quite obvious.)My take is that success or lack of success has nothing to do with gender or shared or single directorship model, but with establishing clear structures, competencies and responsibilities (which might even be a bit more difficult with shared leadership). If a situation like the one in Kassel has to be resolved in court, it strongly indicates a lack of such clarity. Prof. Dr. Julia Glesner and Alexander Keil, I would be interested in hearing your opinion on this matter.

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Theater Erfurt, abuse of power and a deficit of more than 4 million €, but still no immediate termination of the contract of ex-theater director MontavonApparently not only the ex-theater director Montavon, but also the theater committee, the cultural committee and the city lacked clarity and transparency. Otherwise the city would not be faced with the dilemma of having to call in an external auditor to clear the financial situation of the theater, the German newspaper Thüringer Allgemeine and the broadcasting station MDR report on 1/23/24. It is also puzzling why the city is still hesitant to terminate the director’s contract without notice, who apparently overspend the budget, accepted these overdrafts and took no countermeasures. In addition, Montavon apparently created an atmosphere of fear in which sexual assaults occurred frequently, as an external legal report confirms. In the case of ex-Intendant Montavon, the legal aspects are overwhelming: - the city's severe loss of trust in the ex-intendant Montavon,- Montavon causing a significant organizational failure, with a deficit that is greater than the budget for the artistic productions, which permanently disrupts and endangers the artistic work for the next generation of artists,- a strong and lasting threat to economic and artistic operations,- a disturbance of industrial peace, as well as- a massive incompetence in managing the theater.These are sufficient and severe reasons for an immediate termination of the contract, as numerous lawyers and managers confirmed to me. But, this requires the political will of the city. The fact that Montavon's contract was extended again in 2023 in the old model of the stage association, which is always in favor of the theater directors, also shows that good legal expertise is missing in the city administration. The Erfurt dilemma also has structural reasons, namely: giving a single person so much power without testing before that person psychologically and without anonymously surveying employees before the director's contract is extended. If they had been asked, the contract would never have been extended - about what Montavon's friends in the city were able to prevent. The city should and must take now legal action against Montavon, in the interests of the injured people, the affected employees, the taxpayers, and of the theater's future. Bringing this case to the court will be cheaper than paying severance payments for another five years. It is a prerequisite for a new beginning.https://lnkd.in/e3jCF-6m.

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State Theater Kassel - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: A chronicle of political failure - A Tragedy behind the scenes"In the leadership conflict at the Kassel State Theater, mediation by politicians failed. Now the press is to blame?What is currently being performed at the Kassel State Theater is both a 'grand opera' and a 'farce'. But not on the stage, but behind it. A cultural-political debacle, a new bourgeois court theater about manipulation of the workforce and the press, deceiving the public and a devastating leadership style. The characters: a power-hungry autocrat, his artistic opponent, a clueless cultural director, a futurologist and future prince of peace and a former culture minister." (Lotte Thaler, F.A.Z. April 25, 2024)The theater director (General-Intendant) has been in dispute with the General Music Director, the orchestra and the choir for months. Not only are there arguments, but lawyers are also called in, muzzles are imposed, and freedom of opinion and freedom of the press are violated, as we learn in the FAZ. For example, inquiries from the newspaper to the General Music Director are suppressed and not passed on to him, and the musicians, who are the ones who make the opera department's performance come to life and sound, are not heard but silenced. Niccolò Machiavelli (Il Principe, 1513) already knew that it is ill-advised to silence one's opponents; they become martyrs and symbols of resistance. The CEO is ill-advised to have made the Music Director his enemy. This is the very first sign that someone has taken on a position that is two sizes too big for him. A half-day psychological assessment, which every boss of a medium-sized company has to go through at some point to gain the trust of shareholders, would be enough to confirm him or not. But the German Theater Association (Bühnenverein) and the theater directors it assembles in are vehemently opposed to this. Why actually? What is there to hide? Isn't it appropriate for someone who wants to lead a large cultural institution to be put through their paces?But as is so often the case, when looking for directors and extending CEO contracts senselessly early, it's all about not having another difficult search of a new CEO. The Documenta debacle is leading to a cowardly, ostrich-like attitude in politics.And why are there still these unpleasant individual solo-directors (Einzel-Intendanten)? The German National Theater Weimar is leading the way, with the great opera director Valentin Schwarz and his team setting up a trio of artistic directors and a quadriga with the management. Let's go to Weimar, again!

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THE INFORMED ARTIST - an article on nachtkritik.de about the cornerstone of one possible model of the theater of the future (see link above)It was a great, full and exciting symposium, yesterday, with all the acting students from the Hanover Drama School (Germany), who invited me to bring in all the relevant information about the abuse of power in German theaters, about structural problems, and of future theater models. It was a very entertaining round, and the students asked and participated very vividly. A lot has changed compared to my first lectures at drama schools in 2012/13, when most of the students had to digest, that the dream world theater does not exists, even if they were anything but naive. The acting students of today seem to be more alert, more informed, more interested, more committed and more assertive. Of course, this is only a minute impression, but perhaps also a trend that I would like to keep an eye on and share with my colleagues.There was of course much consternation about the numbers, the distribution of abusive cases in theaters and about the several types of discrimination, and there were many questions about how to defend themselves against these incursions of power and forms of discrimination.We all know that defense is priority in all tactical team sports, like soccer, basketball, volleyball - and is the most important instrument. You build networks, strong connections, you work hard on the development of new visions - and you always learn.This defense works, on the one hand, through extensive reforms of the theater structures as one pillar and the major prerequisite, but also through strong solidarity among the artists in the theater, who have to work more closely together and support and protect each other. And finally through learning, learning, and always learning. In January 2017, I published an article on nachtkritik that addressed exactly this topic: The Informed Artist. What if all artists in the theater networked, participated more in power and took part in decision-making. What if you change the structure of the theater so that the ensemble of artists and no longer the management are at the center of the theater? This is no longer utopia, this is a model, that I was able to study and perform myself within our company in Erfurt in the years of 2012 to 2020. There was no formal head, but only a distribution of responsibilities according to talents. We worked like a flower, during daylight we went apart, like the petals of a flower, and after our work was done, we exchanged and interconnected, we decided together and we shared our idas about the future. In my new book I will also write about the options a theater has to develop into the future. But sometimes it's not such a bad idea to revisit a 7-year-old article. Here is the link to the article.https://lnkd.in/eZWeKB8W

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#PeterGelb, with whom I was in contact this summer, is not exaggerating here but providing an objective and data-driven analysis of the #MET. I also don't find it exaggerated that #AxelBrüggemann also considers the scenario he describes to be realistic for Europe and Germany in the near future. We are in the midst of a tremendous change in our society in general and our high culture audience in particular. Education, interests, reception, societal routines, and attention spans have changed rapidly in recent years - and is changing every day. Be it opera houses or symphony orchestras: Clinging to institutional structures, focusing on a museum-like repertoire, and communication forms that no longer reach today's young people support their moments of passing away.https://lnkd.in/e9Gki83v

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With a frightening lack of focus on the importance of an arts education the consequences will hit us for decades. Government policy needs to move swiftly and distinctly to support creative education in schools, colleges and Universities as a matter of urgency. This is not just about having ‘stories’ to tell. It is about nurturing and recognising the importance of these creative skills in business and corporate environments too. We need smart people in positions of authority and power - in all organisations. Time for change.

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Forget local authority, government or agency funding. These are either unavailable or not sustainable and can kill creativity when working within their specific guidelines. Instead, research what the local demographic want or need and provide it. Think of ways that you can entice an audience or participation within different localities and cultures. Be brave, do it alone or with like minded colleagues. Involve yourself in local festivals, fetes, fairs or the like. Hire local halls or theatres. Involve youth clubs and/or schools. Show people what you offer and educate about the impact of the arts on wellbeing and social inclusion.

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We thank our friends at Arup, Investment NSW and The Britain-Australian Society for so kindly helping us to mark this historic anniversary of collaboration and innovation at its very best. Back in 1818 a small group of young Engineers met in a London coffee shop and founded the Institution of Civil Engineers -- ten years later they were honoured with a Royal Charter.A few years later in 1938, our present King Charles’ grandfather George IV granted it's Australian cousin The Institution of Engineers, Australia its own Royal Charter aligning us with the ICE, IStructE, IET, IMechE and so many other like minded Institutions in London and across Europe.Today, and in the same spirit our friends at the Australian High Commission, Canberra and Westminster have just delivered the historic free trade agreement cementing forward collaboration between Britain and Australia…Chartered Engineers play a mission-critical role. This collaborative approach is not new, if we cast our minds back half a century a clever young Chartered Engineer Ove Arup from Newcastle was encouraged by his Scandinavian parents to study Engineering with Philosophy at Copenhagen University. Is Engineering an art or a science? -- that is a question... His creative approach caught the eye of the renowned Danish Architectural genius Jorn Utzon who had just been awarded the contract to build a world-class Opera House for a booming New South Wales. In reality, Utzons's great artistic vision at the centre of the winning design was impossible to build at the time. But nothing inspires Engineers more than being told it can’t be done. Arup’s team got to work by considering nature. After looking at the strength of the humble egg they hit on the segments of an orange as a natural model to replicate, to produce the complex shapes of the Sails of the structure against Sydney Harbour.This was just the beginning; the new invention - the computer was put to work, and all new precast and prestressed concrete techniques were developed along with all new adhesives and glues to secure some of the largest panes of glass on Earth. Perhaps most interestingly, a choreographed construction technique was curated, led by two rail-mounted tower cranes, slowly retreating out to sea leaving the constructed building behind them… it was the Sydney Opera House's first public performance, they said… But great Engineering changes lives – and just as The Sydney Opera House was coming to life 50 years ago, Australia was coming of age itself, and this great building became absolutely symbolic of this. How fitting then to celebrate this great Australian collaboration with Britain and Denmark as we forge so many trade friendships going forward in 2023…https://lnkd.in/eg4EN3bi

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https://lnkd.in/gHK6m5rv#cbppathwayprogram #nationanamericanindianheritagemonth #nationalarchivesrecordsadministration #Military #enjoy #nativepride #NativeAmericans #benefits #CBPCareers #leadership “Through a variety of practices—including #weaving, #beadwork, #sculpture, #painting, printmaking, #drawing, #photography, #performance, and #video—these #artists visualize #Indigenousknowledge of #land/ #landbase/ #landscape. #Together, the works in #TheLandCarriesOurAncestors underscore the #selfdetermination, #survivance, and #right to #selfrepresentation of #Indigenouspeoples. “! ~ first people nativelove