We make theater according to the visions, capacities, and possibilities of all employees and respect individually set boundaries. We experiment not only with theatrical forms and aesthetics but also within our organizational structures, taking on the task of reflecting on and reviewing them. We create spaces that allow for experimentation, failure, and learning. Spaces that are open to change.

We strive for a heterogeneity of forms and content that comes from the diverse perspectives of different people. We encourage the initiative of all employees and the democratic processes aimed at shaping our structures in a collective way and at opening the Theaterhaus to the outside. We remain accessible to opinions and voices that do not negate other perspectives. Our understanding is intersectional, shaped by overlappings and simultaneities. On this basis, we seek the unheard, overlooked and repressed.

Theater is never free of barriers. We see it as our task to sharpen our awareness of systemically conditioned barriers that hinder access to, work in, and engagement with our theater. Barriers are not only physical: we commit to integrating processes of continuing education and self-reflection on discrimination-sensitive working methods into our structures. We communicate the barriers we identify transparently and actively pursue their dismantling.

We understand transparency in work processes not only as exchange of information but as the active and responsible inclusion of staff members in decision-making. We recognize different working methods, needs, and expertise and integrate them into our production processes. Creating and maintaining channels and spaces for communication—internally and externally—is part of our work.

We understand theater as an artistic process that takes place in public and is made accessible to the public, in order to enable engagement with our content, working methods, and forms. We open theater spaces up also beyond our performances, and see project-based communication concepts as an indispensable part of the artistic process of our productions.

Theater is created together: as negotiation, as exchange, as social art. Dialogues are the foundation of our theater work. We collaborate with local, regional, and international actors and institutions to resist isolation, to meet shared challenges and to grow artistically.

We review our work, our social interactions, and our resources with regard to their sustainability. We build networks for the shared use and recycling of materials for our sets, we remain open to expanding our networks and to the needs of regional actors. Human labor is the most important resource for us. Everyone shares responsibility for respecting and protecting it.

We see ourselves as part of a cultural landscape that spans Jena, Thuringia, Europe, and the world. A cultural landscape is a space of possibility that shapes our coexistence and that we help shape. We commit to dealing in solidarity and awareness with the topics we address, with the resources available to us and with the structures we create. We stay approachable as a cultural institution and as parts of civil society.

Work at the Theaterhaus is based on the personal responsibility of all employees for artistic creation and is characterized by a close connection to the production process. All employees can, in line with the values and possibilities of the theatre, develop content and formats and carry them out independently. Through open calls and the involvement of all staff members in decision-making processes, external artists are invited to help shape the Theaterhaus program. We do not foster the cult of individual genius, we rely on personal motivation, communication and initiative.