Bavaria not proud enough of its culture?

Conversation with Barbara Gronau, President of the Theater Academy

Created: 11/21/2022, 6:11 p.m

By: Markus Thiel

“There is injustice in our education system”: Barbara Gronau, here in the foyer of “her” Prinzregententheater, was previously a professor at the University of the Arts in the German capital.

© marie-laure briane

She is the new president at Prinzregentenplatz: Barbara Gronau has been at the helm of the August Everding Theater Academy since September.

Born in Berlin, she was previously a professor at the University of the Arts in the German capital.

Among other things, you have published on “Arts of pausing” or “Performances of doing nothing”.

So can it be that we overlook or hide something in our fast-moving times?

In any case.

In these publications we asked about the effectiveness and the effect of inaction.

Passivity has an important cultural dimension.

It's very interesting in the theater: Not doing something on stage and exhibiting it at the same time can be extremely provocative and irritating.

How difficult is it for us to endure something like this?

The other dimension is that if someone stays in one pose for a long time in a performance, you'll notice fatigue over time.

Something begins to live and to flow away – and to find a new form.

Among other things, we have examined performances that last a whole day, even a whole year, and what this does to the audience.

You did a lot of research and now you're suddenly president.

A big break in life.

Was it time for you?

I followed the classic steps of an academic career.

But I've always done theatre.

This also has something to do with the fact that I come from a generation of students in which practice was not automatically part of theater studies.

So for me, this is just a return to theater.

What is priority A for you at the theater academy?

The most important thing is that all courses are subject to expert examinations in order to be prepared for the next few years.

It's not an easy process because we're not a traditional university.

Of course, there are many other things that are important too.

About diversity, after all, there is now a female president for the first time in 29 years.

The third point: The Theater Academy sees itself as an institute where courses are interlinked and we develop a lot together, also experimentally.

Strengthening this against the background of a changing concept of theater is also a goal.

Let's take the singing section: people often complain that they are being trained for unemployment.

Too many are dragged through their studies.

What need for change do you see?

My experience is that the selection in the art courses is very strict.

When it comes to acting, there are several hundred applicants here, and eight are accepted.

Which is true: many of the up-and-coming singers assume that they will end up in Vienna or at the Salzburg Festival.

In the end it's the small theater or the professional choir.

This side of the job may not have entered your consciousness during your studies.

Honesty towards the students is therefore important in the professional field of the stage.

All training institutes are also called upon to consider second career paths.

This happens more often.

That is why postgraduate courses are very popular.

Because some say: I want to curate or go into cultural management.

The problem is just:

These are all paid courses.

The state only pays for university education.

So there is an injustice in this system because it doesn't take career changes into account.

Changing this structurally would be a task for the legislature.

You are the first woman to head the Academy.

Lydia Grün now also has a female president at the music academy.

Do you feel like a Munich upstart duo?

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We're a quartet!

Think of Bettina Reitz at the University of Television and Film and Karen Pontoppidan at the Academy of Fine Arts.

This is unique and exemplary in Germany.

It's always about changing role models.

That was also one of the reasons why I accepted the Munich offer.

Are there fewer registrations for the courses because people shy away from artistic professions in view of the Corona period?

What surprised and pleased us: All of our students found a job.

People keep asking if this is a lost generation.

But overall, the number of applications for all courses is actually declining.

This raises fundamental questions: Is there a crisis in our youth?

Does she have trouble identifying with the goals set by society?

Or do you just not want to commit yourself because you want to catch up on a few things with travel?

I don't have any answers yet.

Will anything change in terms of content on the stages?

It is said that in view of declining ticket sales, the theaters have to reach out more to the audience.

There are two opposing tendencies.

On the one hand, there are productions that are very popular with viewers and that rely on everyone flocking to the theatre.

On the other hand, theaters are entering a very self-reflective phase: Who are we making theater for?

What is that?

Do we need a text for this?

As an academy, it is important to us that we always stay tuned to the sound of the students.

After all, they bring their ideas about theater with them.

So how do we connect with the desires, imaginations and aesthetic visions of this generation?

She has her own ideas and questions.

As a Berliner, how do you experience the Munich cultural biotope?

Is it safer, more secure because there is more money?

And so less open to change?

They are really two different cultures.

Eastern and Northern Europe does not occur in southern German-Austrian-Italian.

In Berlin it is exactly the opposite, Munich seems like in another country.

In fact, the southern German cultural area is financially well equipped, which above all guarantees stability.

In Berlin, all decisions are made against the background of a difficult social situation.

But precisely because it's completely different in the south, you should also see the culture as a sales argument.

However, I notice that there are completely different narratives here.

Cosiness, rurality, a special form of closeness to the people.

That, I don't want to be misunderstood, is not wrong.

But it's only half of what I experience here as a previously outsider.

I am also experiencing an enormously interesting

internationally significant cultural life.

And that plays a rather subordinate role in the Bavarian self-image.

The interview was conducted by Markus Thiel.