Colloquium48 - Jörg Pohl: Theater Politics

What is political theater? What makes theater political? Is it the political subject matter or content of the play? Is there a political dimension in the theatrical medium itself, in its forms and devices? And does the institution of the theater fulfill a political function as a place where society tries to think and interpret itself? In his talk, Jörg Pohl, actor and co-director of the Schauspiel Theater Basel, will introduce these questions and discuss their actuality. He will do this by giving a short overview of the long history of theater politics from Antiquity over the Elizabethan era to Brecht. This will allow us to better understand our contemporary situation where new forms of artistic agitation and propaganda (agitprop) compete with autonomous conceptions of political theater. Pohl will argue that an emancipatory politics of theater must include the reorganization of theatrical production itself: Overcoming the authoritarian relations of traditional theater-making and introducing forms of participation and collective self-determination into the organization of artistic labour. 

Jörg Pohl was born in the Ruhr area in 1979. He initially lived there for 23 years, undisturbed by the influence of the theatre, in various run-down industrial towns. After very mediocre A-levels and community service, he was successfully unemployed for a year. Due to a misunderstanding ("There's a lot of money for little work in the theatre"), he ends up at drama school in Bochum. The misunderstanding is cleared up at the Bochum theatre: in fact, the money and the work are the other way round. Despite this sobering realisation, he follows Matthias Hartmann's call to the Schauspielhaus Zürich. From 2009 he is a member of the Thalia Theatre ensemble. In eleven years in Hamburg, Pohl has not only been involved in many roles (Danton, Hamlet, Richard III, Liliom, etc.), but also in debates about the abolition of authoritarian and outdated management structures in the theatre. He believes that it is possible to make art without fear and oppression. Perhaps even good art.