From 5 to 7 February 2026, the Centre for Advanced Study “Access to Cultural Goods in Digital Change” will hold a conference entitled “Strukturwandel des Publikums? Konsequenzen des digitalen Wandels für den Zugang zum Theater” (“Structural transformation of the audience? Consequences of digital transformation for access to theatre”, in German).
Venue: Studiobühne at the Philosophical Seminar (Philosophikum) of the University of Münster, Domplatz 23, 48143 Münster.
Registration: If you would like to participate, please register by 15 January 2026 at kfg.zugang@uni-muenster.de.
Scientific Organisation: Lisa-Maria Meier and Finn Marz
The conference will focus on examining the transformation of theatre in the present day. Audiences and performers no longer always share the same physical space; immediate co-presence is being transformed by digital formats. New media forms of reception such as theatre streaming, hybrid performances, immersive spaces and interactive performances are not only changing the relationship between stage and audience, but also raising the question: Who does make theatre? And for whom? ‘High-class theatre’ for an audience in suits or evening gowns is increasingly being replaced by low-threshold, experimental formats in which the audience sometimes becomes part of the action itself – for example, VR productions such as Die Wand (360°) by Schauspiel Essen or participatory plays by the German-Swiss group Rimini Protokoll.
These developments motivate the conference’s central question: How is digital transformation changing the conditions of access to theatre? The focus is on new opportunities for participation as well as on potential challenges for theatre. We want to examine how the aesthetics and social functions of theatre are changing as a result of digital transformations and what consequences this has for the relationship between the stage and the audience. Regardless of the increased use of digital technologies, is theatre still an independent medium or form of art, or is it increasingly moving closer to film and gaming?
Speakers
- Lukas Baueregger (State Theatre Augsburg: Digital Theater)
- Prof. Pablo Dornhege (University of Applied Sciences Berlin)
- Dr. Nicolas Kleinschmidt (RWTH Aachen)
- Prof. Dr. Heidi Liedke (Goethe-University Frankfurt)
- Marcus Lobbes (Academy for Theatre and Digitality, Dortmund)
- Lisa-Maria Meier, M.A. (University of Münster)
- Nina Mühlemann, Prof. Dr. Yvonne Schmidt and Thubten Jonas Shontshang (Bern University of Applied Sciences)
- Prof. Dr. Reinold Schmücker (University of Münster)
- Improvisational duo from Momentum (Christian Berlin and Dr. Laura Berkemeyer)
Programme (in German)
Thursday, 5 February 2026
03:00 pm
Welcome and Introduction
Lisa-Maria Meier, Finn Marz
Erstes Panel: Digitale Bühnen – Chancen eines neuen Zugangs
Chair: Lisa-Maria Meier
03:15 pm
Theater im digitalen Zeitalter – Wozu?
Prof. Dr. Reinold Schmücker (Universität Münster)
04:15 pm
Coffee Break
04:30 pm
Spatial Encounters – Virtuelle und Hybrid-Reale Kulturerlebnisse
Prof. Pablo Dornhege (Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin)
05:30 pm
Körperliche Mit-Präsenz: Theater, Digitalität, Zeitlichkeit
Prof. Dr. Heidi Liedke (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt)
07:00 pm
Dinner at Vinothek am Theater
Friday, 6 February 2026
Zweites Panel: Theater digital praktizieren
Chair: Josina Dehn
10:30 am
Theater ist Werkstatt. Theater ist Forschung. Theater ist Zukunft.
Marcus Lobbes (Akademie für Theater und Digitalität Dortmund)
11:30 am
No Limit? Barrierefreiheit, Inklusion und digitales Theater
Nina Mühlemann, Prof. Dr. Yvonne Schmidt, Thubten Jonas Shontshang (Berner Fachhochschule)
01:00 pm
Lunch
Drittes Panel: Konvergenz von Theater, Film und Gaming
Chair: Finn Marz
03:30 pm
tba
04:30 pm
Ist das noch Theater? – Digitale Räume als Antwort auf analoge Grenzen
Lukas Baueregger (Staatstheater Augsburg: Digitaltheater)
05:30 pm
Get together – Wine & Cheese at Philosophikum
07:00 pm
Evening Performance at Studiobühne
Improv-Duo “Momentum” (Dr. Laura Berkemeyer and Christian Berlin)
Saturday, 7 February 2026
Viertes Panel: Zur Ontologie des digitalen Theaters
Chair: Jolanda Saal
10:30 am
Begriffswandel des Theaters
Lisa-Maria Meier (Universität Münster)
11:30 am
Eine Ontologie der Autorschaft an (digitalen) Theaterstücken
Dr. Nicolas Kleinschmidt (RWTH Aachen)
12:30 pm
Abschließende Bemerkungen
Lisa-Maria Meier, Finn Marz, Reinold Schmücker
01:00 pm
Farewell Snack