Art and Journalism

With Art and Journalism, Schauspiel Köln and the non-profit media organisation CORRECTIV are launching a long-term collaboration that brings together the strengths of both disciplines for contemporary, fact-based storytelling. The project establishes a laboratory in which artists and journalists jointly explore new forms of documentary and research-driven theatre. Beginning in the 2025/26 season, the partners will develop productions that translate investigative material into distinct theatrical perspectives.

The collaboration responds to a societal moment in which information is always available, yet its significance often dissipates amid the speed of digital attention. On stage, however, facts can be transformed aesthetically and made experientially tangible. Artistic Director Kay Voges describes theatre as a space in which “reality is constructed, honestly questioned, and experienced in its ambiguity.” CORRECTIV’s investigations serve as the artistic foundation for these explorations.

As part of the cooperation, a think tank of journalists and artists will be established. It will bring together investigative work, artistic practice, and documentary aesthetics to develop new modes of expression. In addition to research-based stage productions, knowledge and experience will be shared in workshops. A quarterly publication will also be launched to address artistic methodologies, aesthetic translation, and the ways in which art and investigative practice can productively enrich one another.

We support this project because the connection between theatre and journalism opens new pathways to understanding societal issues. Both fields rely on their own methods of inquiry and communication; together, they can combine perspectives and experiment with new approaches to complex questions. We are convinced by the project’s commitment to merging investigation, artistic methods, and documentary aesthetics to create formats that are both analytically precise and artistically accessible.