The Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Wuerttemberg (ADK), founded in 2007, prepares students for careers in theatre and also film. The institution aims to provide students with a practical and project-based training in Acting (Bachelor Degree), Directing (Bachelor Degree) and Dramaturgy (Master Degree) as well as in Stage and Costume Design at the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design. Interdisciplinarity is a core feature of the academic concept of the ADK.
The proximity to the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg and the campus shared by these two institutions as well as a close cooperation with the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design and the University of Education allow to react to an art that is exposed to constant changes. In addition to providing a thorough foundational training for theatre, the ADK offers integrated projects that explore new forms beyond established fields and genres by using the new media.
To build a bridge between studies and professional life and to get access to a wide range of different institutions and personalities in the field of theatrical and artistic practice, the ADK enjoys a fruitful exchange and cooperation with a number of theatres and art institutions through its participation at various festivals and guest performances in Germany and Europe such as in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Hamburg, Bonn, Freiburg, Esslingen, Trier, Munich, Frankfurt, Worms, Brno, Spoleto, Rome, Luxemburg etc).
Additionally the ADK is member of mitos21, a network of theatre professionals of important and influential theatre institutions.
2007
Foundation – founding circle: Joachim Uhlmann (MWK), Hans-Georg Koch (MWK), Hartmut Römpp (MWK), Werner Spec (Lord Mayor Ludwigsburg), Prof. Dr. Claus Eiselstein (State Ministry), Dr. Dietrich Birk (MWK), Dr. Klaus Bessey (State Ministry), Prof. Canaris (Musikhochschule Stuttgart) und Prof. Dr. Ludger Hünnekens (ABK)
2007/08
Construction of theatre tower– Many thanks are due to Prof. Zehetgruber,
head of the course of study stage design at Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design for the architectonical design and concept of the theatre tower.
2008-2010
Prof. Wolfgang Bergmann, founding director
2010-2011
Prof. Thomas Schadt, director
2011–2014
Prof. Hans-Jürgen Drescher, director
From Sept. 2014
Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Schweeger, director and manager
July 2014
ManieFest – First student festival at ADK
From Sept. 2014
Acceptance in the network mitos21 (group of European theatre professionals)
From 2014
Intensification of the cooperation with the Film Academy and the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design in the disciplines stage and costume design, architecture and photography.
2015
Acceptance in the network of European theatre university and academies E:UTSA
2016 Launch of the series of events »Montags an der ADK« prospects, insights and discussions.
Among the guests are top-class personalities from science, politics, art and culture, e.g. Jörg Armbruster ( journalist, Middle East correspondent), Prof. Dr. Wolf Singer (brain researcher), Prof. Dr. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (biologist at Max Planck Society, Nobel Prize winner), Prof. Dr. Verena Metze-Mangold (president of German commission for UNESCO), Josef Hader (author, director, cabaret artist)
2016
Launch of »Open Academy« in close collaboration with surrounding schools in Ludwigsburg with the aim of bringing adolescents closer to the theatre
2016
»Lost in (Digital) Space« Authorship in the Digital Age,
Symposium in cooperation with ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe and Akademie Schloss Solitude
2016
FURORE festival – First edition of the international festival, organized by students
2016/17
Cooperation with PH Ludwigsburg in the master study course »Cultural education«
2017
Accreditation of the ADK and thereby international recognition of ADK as a university
2018
Acceptance in the network ELIA – European League of Institutes of the Arts
Acceptance in Ständige Konferenz Schauspielausbildung (SKS)
The Akademie für Darstellende Kunst Baden-Württemberg GmbH (ADK; Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg) is structured as a non-profit GmbH, a German form of limited liability corporation.
The goals of the ADK are project-oriented education of students; support and promotion of performing arts on stage, in film, and in new audio-visual media; and providing related training and education as well as engaging in research and development.
The Academy is part of the tertiary education structure. Pursuant to the German Akademiegesetz, passed by the Landtag on 25 February 1992 and revised 25. July 2007, a successfully completed degree at the Academy is equivalent to comparable degrees of professional qualification conferred by state art academies. The ADK’s degrees are therefore recognized by the state.
Equal Opportunity Policies
Equal Opportunities Officers assist in implementing equal opportunities for men and women, as guaranteed by the German constitution. They also work towards eliminating any existing discriminatory factors for artistic, academic, and/or administrative staff and students. They are also point persons for any concerns regarding fair practices in everyday interaction. The ADK’s Equal Opportunity Officers are:
The ADK aims to make its processes transparent, to work by participation and support rather than by control, and to develop sustainable practices and concepts. In order to preserve the quality of the ADK over the long term, we can create an environment that supports and encourages instructors, staff, and students to do “good work.” To that end, the ADK quality management process aims to enable, encourage, and support feedback and observation, reflection, and dialogue wherever appropriate. For further information, see our quality management concept as presented in the PDF below.
As a signatory of Baden-Württemberg’s WIN Charta of the Economic Initiative for Sustainability, the ADK is dedicated to economic, ecological, and social responsibility.
To date, the WIN Charta remains the only German sustainability management system specifically developed for small to medium businesses. Signatories commit themselves to developing and communicating own initiatives for sustainability within the framework of the sustainability strategies of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
The concept goals of the ADK can be found here. Detailed information on the WIN Charta and other signatories can be found on the German-language website of the initiative: www.win-bw.com
Close collaboration with both the Film Academy of Baden-Württemberg and the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design (ABK) is part of the philosophy that inspired the founding of the Academy of Performing Arts (ADK) in Baden-Württemberg in 2007. This fundamental principle and our links with other cultural and academic institutions at national and international level bear fruit in our course planning.
Since 2016/17 ADK and the Film Academy have also partnered with Ludwigsburg University of Education to offer a new MA in Cultural Education.
In addition to the partnership with ABK, students of Stage and Costume Design benefit from agreements with the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (master class with Katrin Brack) and the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden.
We also seek to build bridges with a variety of organisations and individuals in theatre and art practice. These partnerships and the tours to which they give rise are designed to offer our students enhanced conditions of access to areas of practical experience.
Partnerships are being initiated and continued with theatres such as Schauspiel Stuttgart, Theater Rampe, Theater Freiburg, Landesbühne Esslingen, the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Theater Aalen and Theater Augsburg.
When Plato bought the grove of Akademos, he wanted to create a place where he and his students could exchange knowledge and insights into society and human nature. Today, over 2000 years later, the term »academy« has become almost completely independent of its origins—but Platoʼs project is as current as it ever was. And in the spirit of the saying: »Itʼs the flowers that make the garden, not the fence,« the Academy of Performing Arts wants to open its garden gate. We want to make people curious about theater and art, to share our knowledge with the already curious, and are ourselves curious about the constantly changing, vibrant world with which we seek and need contact—because what we do makes no sense without its larger context.
The Academy is therefore making its knowledge about speech, voice, body, literature, presentation, and art more accessible—because we want to do justice to the importance of successful communication, of using language well, and of engaging with other forms of expression, thinking, and living in the world.
These opportunities are geared towards:
Young people interested in a playful approach to questions and ideas
Instructors, leaders, and businesses
Program in development
For more details, please contact info@adk-bw.de.
The architectural heart of the Academy: a multi-functional theater tower designed by Martin Zehetgruber. Performances can take place horizontally, vertically, inside, and outside, as well as moving between these orientations.
Like any other innovative building, the Academy of Performing Arts has a long and varied history. In 2001, architectural firm KMB Kerker, Müller + Braunbeck, of Ludwigsburg, Germany, were tasked with feasibility planning and location scouting for the building of a “theater academy.” Assisting the planning architects were Prof. Martin Zehetgruber, director of stage training at Stuttgart’s State Academy of Performing Arts, and Volker Canaris, then head of the acting program at the Stuttgart Conservatory. The team conceived of the idea of a stage tower capable of being opened in four directions, which has remained the nucleus of the ADK’s architectural conception.
The stage tower offers highly flexible possibilities for open-air staging, inviting exploration of new forms of open play and performance through the stimulus of its unique design. Since a realization of the project in 2001 was impossible for economic, financial, and political reasons, the concept at first disappeared in the archives of its planners. Nearly five years later, in the fall of 2006, the planning and construction process of the Academy was revived, albeit with a slightly altered location and accordingly adapted building plans.
The Academy’s principal rehearsal stage, with adjoining workshop, tech studio, and costume shop.
The building also contains a movement studio, dressing rooms, and a green room. The Studio, an additional seminar and rehearsal space, is constructed in the transition between rehearsal stage and stage tower.
The Jommelli House
The Jommelli House contains the administrative and director’s offices, as well as student offices and secretaries, press and PR offices all on the second floor. The first floor contains technical directors and production management offices, a cutting room, costuming and set design studios, janitorial staff offices, as well as the library and instructors’ lounge. The ground floor has further seminar rooms, student lounges and computer room, as well as a small kitchen for student use.
The Jommelli House lies on the Stuttgarter Straße, across from Bärenwiese Park. It was erected in 1760 by Duke Carl Eugen of Württemberg. From 1763 to 1769 it was occupied by the Italian opera composer Niccolò Jommelli, and is said to have been visited by Mozart himself.
K11. The Rehearsal Center
In 2018, the Academy moved into its new rehearsal spaces in the Kammererstraße 11, directly behind the Ludwigsburg Central Station. In over 16 000 square feet, the building houses a total of 11 rehearsal rooms, music and speaking rooms, dressing rooms, and a kitchen. It is used for classes in movement and speech, for scene and role study, and rehearsals for productions and project development.
Scene Award
Schauspielschultreffen Graz 2018
Marielle Layher and Daniel Fleischmann
ADK graduates Marielle Layher and Daniel Fleischmann (2019) were given the Scene Award of the Bundeswettbewerb zur Förderung des deutschsprachigen Schauspielnachwuchses, held at the 2018 Schauspielschultreffen in Graz. They won for their performance of »Amédée, Or How to Get Rid of It« from »It’s not over there, it’s there« – Scenes by Eugène Ionesco, directed by Christian von Treskow and first performed at the ADK in December 2017. Further information on the award is available here.
Marta Award 2018
SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER Festival
Scenic Design and Costuming by Nele Bühler and Luise Ehrenwerth
»It isn’t over there, it’s there: Scenes by Eugène Ionesco«. Director: Christian von Treskow
At the 2018 SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER festival in Brno, Czech Republic, Nele Bühler and Luise Ehrenwerth (Dresden Academy of Fine Arts) were presented with the Marta Award for their costuming and scenic design, »in recognition of supporting the creation of a world of powerful association, dynamic aesthetic and bizarre yet well-judged characters, with a clear style of ensemble acting and stylization.«
Further information may be found here.
Chemnitz Theater Prize for Young Drama 2018
Sören Hornung
Sören Hornung – a 2017 finalist for the Osnabrück Dramatist Prize as well as a 2018 finalist of the Heidelberger Stückemarkt – was awarded the Chemnitz Theater Prize for Young Drama 2018 in May. The directing graduate of the ADK received the prize after the premiere of his piece »Sieben Geister« (»Seven Ghosts«) under the direction of Laura Linnenbaum. Hornung works as an independent director and author. His productions have been staged at the Schauspiel Stuttgart, the Theater Rampe in Stuttgart, Hamburg’s Thalia Theater, the Theater Augsburg, and the Volkstheater Rostock.
Grant Recipient – Performing Arts 2018
of the Baden-Württemberg Arts Foundation
Anna-Elisabeth Frick
In 2016, Anna-Elisabeth Frick was awarded the Prize of the 13th Körber Studio Junge Regie. With a production grant of €10 000, the Körber Foundation supports prize winners in a new production either at a city/municipal theater or an independent theater. Anna-Elisabeth Frick’s production of »The Exterminating Angel« (based on the film of Luis Buñuel) is supported by the grant and will open in April 2019. Anna-Elisabeth Frick is also the 2018 Grantee for Performing Arts of the Baden-Württemberg Arts Foundation. Her production of »Faust« premiered at the Schleswig-Holstein Regional Theater in Rendsburg in October 2018.
She graduated from the ADK directing program in 2017.
Advancement Award Junge Talente.ch
Student Prize Drama 2018 Migros Culture Percentage
Zoë Valks
Valks, acting class of 2019, was awarded a 2018 Student Prize in Drama of the Migros Culture Percentage. The Advancement Award supports outstanding young artists in their transition from training to stage. Additionally, Zoë Valks was accepted into the advancement program »Junge Talente.ch«, which allows Swiss acting students to shoot a short film with experienced directors. The film will be presented January 2019 at the Solothurn Film Festival.
The Marie-Zimmermann-Stipend for Dramaturgy 2017 is awarded to dramaturg Jeffrey Döring, ADK alumnus. The stipend, created to support young dramaturgs in the German-language theater scene, includes a two-month residency at the Academy Schloss Solitude, which organizes and awards the stipend and prize.
First Prize in the Academy Competition
SPOLETO 59 / Festival Dei 2 Mondi
»Concerning Shakespeare. Strategies of Survival: Moor and More«
Director: Faraz Baghaei
Workshop production in the 3rd year of the directing program, created as part of the thematic module »Shakespeare«.
As part of the program »European Young Theatre 2016«, Faraz Baghaei’s production »Moore and More« shared first prize of the academy competition with »Aringhe e Patate« (Carmeló Alú, Accademie »Silvio d’Amico«).
Actors: Sophia Hankings-Evans, Ruzbeh Mirmoayadi, Baris Tangobay | Dramaturgy: Anna Stegherr | Design: Lynn Scheidweiler / Ariane Koziolek (ABK Stuttgart) | Music: Maximilian Clouth (Film Academy)
First Prize of the Körber Studio Junge Regie 2016
»Die Unerhörte« Director: Anna-Elisabeth Frick
Workshop production in the 3rd year of the directing program, created as part of the thematic module »Oresteia«.
The jury of the 13th Körber Studio Junge Regie 2016 voted unanimously to award its first prize to Anna-Elisabeth Frick for her directorial work on »Die Unerhörte« (»Unheard of«), saying: »The production takes a risk. It examines the tragedy of the unheard-of; cutting across all genre boundaries. The performers let themselves go and are touching in their mad comedy, deep seriousness, and fascinating moment of unpredictability.« With production budget support of €10 000, the Körber-Stiftung supports prize winners in directing work at a city/municipal theater or within the independent scene.
Actors: Matthias Breitenbach, Anna Gesa-Raija Lappe, Dario Neumann, Louis von Klipstein | Dramaturgy: Anna-Katharina Müller | Design: Christian Blechschmidt (ABK Stuttgart) | Design assistant: Sonia Hoyler (ABK Stuttgart) | Choir director: Henrike Eichhorn (Schauspiel Stuttgart)
Marta Award 2016
SETKÁNÍ / ENCOUNTER Festival
Set and costume design by Clara Nothdurft
»5.6. – 11.6. (tot) 15.6. (Auferstehung). Acting project after Einar Schleef« Thesis project, 3rd year acting program. Director: Christiane Pohle
Clara Nothdurft’s set and costume designs were honored with a Marta Award at the 2016 ENCOUNTER Festival in Brno, Czech Republic: »In recognition for creating a dynamic set and costume design that supported the world of the play with a clear and imaginative theatrical canvas that acted as the foundation for a powerful ensemble production of »5.6. – 11.6. (tot) 15.6. (Auferstehung)«.«
Actors: Lea Beie, Janosch Fries, Louis von Klipstein, Jens Lamprecht, Anna Gesa-Raija Lappe, Esra Laske, Tobias Loth, Ann-Christin Mündner, Dario Neumann and Laila Richter | Set/Costume Design: Clara Nothdurft (ABK Stuttgart) | Dramaturgy: Malte Ubenauf | Music: Marie Goyette | Assistant Director: Franziska Weber | Assistant Set/Costume Designer: Mira Phumdorkmai (ABK Stuttgart)
Advancement Prize of the Schiller Memorial Prize 2016
Stefan Hornbach,
2015 graduate, received the Advancement Prize of the 2016 Schiller Memorial Prize of the State of Baden-Württemberg. He and his co-recipient, the playwright Miroslava Svolikova, »have enriched contemporary theater with their work. With this prize, we aim to enable them to have further important experiences in the theater«, said Theresia Bauer, Minister for Science, Research, and Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg.
Hornbach’s recent piece »Über meine Leiche« (»Over my dead body«) had already been awarded the Osnabrück Dramatists’ Prize, as well as being represented on the Heidelberger Stückemarkt. In June 2016, »Über meine Leiche« was previewed in a production of the Vienna Burgtheater; the premiere occurred 2016 at the Theater Osnabrück under the direction of Marlene Anna Schäfer.
First Prize of the Munich Advancement Award for German-language Drama 2016
Wilke Weermann,
2018 graduate of the ADK, won first prize in the Munich Advancement Award for German-language Drama 2016, given by the Cultural Department of the City of Munich in cooperation with the Drei Masken Verlag and the Münchener Kammerspiele. It carries an attached €6 000 prize money.
Weermann’s piece »Abraum« (»Overburden«) was selected for its authentic, light language, whose »poetic and gruesome images« probe decay. »The young generation speaking here«, praised Guido Huller (Drei Masken Verlag), »is lost, for it has no role models or goals. Weermann manages to add a nuance to this desperate struggle, making the hard tone of these young people very quiet and pensive.« The premiere of the piece occurred in March 2017 at the Münchener Kammerspiele, after which the piece was invited to the Körber Studio Junge Regie, where a production of Weermann’s »Der entfesselte Wotan« (»Odin unleashed«) was shown concurrently. Weermann’s production of »Fahrenheit 451« at the Schauspiel Stuttgart – simultaneously his graduation thesis for ADK – was invited to »radikal jung 2018« in Munich.
Weermann’s short film »Das Paket« (»The package«) was screened at renowned national and international festivals for short film. Weerman created it as a student at the ADK, in cooperation with the Film Academy. Weermann was nominated to present the film at the 2018 Bundes Festival Film, the annual culmination of the national German competitions Deutscher Jugendfilmpreis and Deutscher Generationenfilmpreis. The set design, by Christian Blechschmidt and Lynn Scheidweiler (ABK Stuttgart) was awarded »Best Set Design« at the 2017 Watersprite Film Festival in Cambridge.
In November 2018, Weermann directed the world premiere of his new text »Odem« (»Breath«) at the Kassel State Theater.
Youth Prize of the 31st Heidelberger Stückemarkt
Daniel Foerster, for
»Tanzen! Tanzen!« (»Dance! Dance!«)
Daniel Foerster, born 1986 in Göttingen, has assisted and held student residencies at the HAU Berlin, the Vienna Festwochen, the Theater Freiburg, and Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theater. From 2011 to 2015, he studied directing at the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg, during which time he undertook numerous cooperative projects with the Film Academy as well as scenic installations and interventions in public spaces beyond the stage.
His production »Borkman«, based on Ibsen, was shown at the Körber Studio Junge Regie in May 2014, while his production of A »Clockwork Orange« after Anthony Burgess – created in cooperation with the Schauspiel Stuttgart while Foerster was still a student – had guest performances at the 2015 Young Artist Week in Salzburg. As part of the 2015 Spieltriebe Festival at the Theater Osnabrück, he directed »Archiv der Erschöpfung« (»Archive of Exhaustion«) by Sascha Hargesheimer.
Günther-Rühle-Prize 2013
Desirevolution after Matias Faldbakken and Thomas Mann
Direction: Christiane Pohle | Benedikt Haubrich
Graduation thesis of 3rd-year acting students in cooperation with the Stuttgart State Academy of Art & Design
At the »Week of young actors« that took place in Bensheim for the eighteenth time in May 2013, the Günther-Rühle-Prize was awarded to the production »Desirevolution«, created by ADK’s third-year acting students. The prize, awarded by the city of Bensheim, carries prize money of €3 000.
The jury reasoned that the young drama artists had »dared to wage a frontal attack«: »The rage and aggression visible on the stage became clear as a generation-specific problem we must engage with. These figures live in a world in which society has completely left them behind. No one cares for them because it hurts to look and listen to their stories.« The jury emphasized that the prize, usually awarded to one or more actors individually, was being given »purposely to a collective without emphasizing individual names. In the face of strapped regional finances, it has sadly become all too imaginable that not all graduates of our acting schools will find a place in the established theater business. This prize is intended as an encouragement to develop forms of theater which, much like »Desirevolution«, can reach their intended audience in a more flexible, direct way. In the long term, theater can remain indispensable only if it does not keep with outdated traditions but finds ever new ways to make society face up to itself.«
The »Week of young actors« is organized by the City of Bensheim, the German Academy of Performing Arts, and other institutions.
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