Berlin - February 2026

Directing Devised Performance

Find your voice.

Find YOUR allies.

Make your art.

START HERE

Creating devised performance requires curiosity, courage, and the willingness to take risks. Within a supportive and collaborative environment, course participants will experiment with both physical and conceptual approaches to making original work. Grounded in established techniques but aimed at individual discovery, the course offers practical tools for exploring presence, space, and time in a performance context. It also addresses the simple but profound challenge of how to start, how to move from an idea to a working concept, by offering dramaturgical pathways into the creative process. Through the practice of trial and error, artists will cultivate the confidence and freedom needed to discover and share their own authentic artistic voice.

A month to move from impulse to invention.

“Being able to dive into devised work in both an intellectual and a practical exercise was wonderful. We were able to re-think and re-imagine what it means to "do" theater as a group and test that in our different practices. Was it always easy? Not quite, was it a challenge? At times. Did I feel supported? For sure. Would I do it again? Anytime. What came out of this month of practice and work is very precious and isn’t easy to get in other circumstances.”

— André, Director / Performer (Switzerland)

When Arthaus Berlin significantly reshaped its curriculum earlier this year, the month-long directing intensive for devised theater developed by its faculty could have been lost. Instead, former faculty came together independently to keep it alive, bringing their experience, perspective, and passion for the work. This new initiative will continue in the spirit of its forerunner, offering a hands-on collaborative experience that celebrates creativity, risk-taking, innovation, and the satisfaction of discovering the new together.

Keeping a vital course alive and in motion.

“The course was brilliant because it brought together excellent professionals in the field, who provided the knowledge we needed to start exploring this path and offered personalized feedback. The group of student-artists was also fantastic — we learned so much from one another throughout the process. We had plenty of time to rehearse, create, present our work, participate in others’ projects, and learn from those experiences too.

I definitely recommend this course both to those who already know they want to direct and to those who haven’t yet discovered this passion within themselves.”

— Sofya, Dancer / Choreographer (Berlin)

Berlin hums with creative energy, an intersection of cultures, languages, and artistic practices from around the world. From small artist-run studios to major cultural institutions, Berlin’s artistic landscape invites curiosity and participation at every level. Its theaters, galleries, and performance spaces offer a constant flow of experimentation and exchange, reflecting a city that thrives on reinvention. Here, history and contemporary life exist in dialogue, creating an atmosphere that is both grounded and forward-looking. It’s a place where immersion in art and culture happens simply by being here.

A city of ideas, art, and innovation.

The month-long workshop was an incredibly inspiring, open, and safe space to explore and experiment with theatrical expression. It was a privilege to work with so many talented and committed participants, and with such high-quality professional content. The teachers brought so much of their own love and dedication to theater making, with a respect and sensitivity for both the individual and collective aspects of the creative process. It was a joy and an enrichment to be part of this group, and it has given me new tools and  perspectives on how I can approach the art of making theater. If more opportunities arise to continue working in this theater lab with these instructors, I will definitely consider the possibility of returning.

— Camilla, Director / Performer / Writer (Norway)

COURSe instructors

  • Paul is a director, performer, and generative artist based in Berlin. His artistic work is informed by a fusion of international influences and an ongoing performance-based inquiry into the mysterious nature of life, death, and human interdependence.

    Paul earned his MFA in theater directing as a Fulbright program grantee at the Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy under the mentorship of Jonas Vaitkus. He has directed productions in the United States and Europe, including the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre (Seattle), On the Boards (Seattle), and La MaMa E.T.C. (NYC). He has appeared as a performer in productions at the Munich Biennale, the Wien Festwochen, REDCAT Theater (L.A.), and the Under the Radar Festival (NYC).

    As an educator, Paul’s pedagogical work focuses on clarity, specificity, intuition, and courage. He has taught for over 20 years, with a particular focus on Meyerhold’s Biomechanics technique, alongside courses in scene study, devised theater, and interdisciplinary art. During this time, he has been fortunate to work with students at Arthaus (Berlin), the Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy, the Iceland Academy of the Arts, Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle), and Freehold Theatre Lab / Studio (Seattle).

    Recently, Paul's solo performance, titled “I Love That For You”, premiered in Berlin, followed by performances in New York (La MaMa E.T.C.) and Seattle (On the Boards). His newest work will premiere in Berlin in December 2025.

  • Elif Sözer is a Berlin-based theater artist, teacher, and dramaturg specializing in physical and devised performance. Her professional practice spans acting, directing, and concept development, with a focus on collaborative creation and the intersection of body, text, and space in contemporary performance.

    After completing her studies in Theatre, Film, and Media Studies at the University of Vienna, she undertook a physical theatre training based on Jacques Lecoq’s methods at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA). She then moved to Istanbul, where she completed her master’s degree in dramaturgy and theatre criticism. She was involved in founding the first Physical Theatre and Comedy School in Istanbul, taught at the State Conservatory of Istanbul University, and appeared as an actor in various productions. In addition, she adapted the novel Gizli Emir by Melih Cevdet Anday for the stage, which she also directed. She spent two seasons as part of the acting directorship at the Volksbühne Berlin, working as a dramaturgy assistant and dramaturg. Her dramaturgical work includes the production Hammer & Spiegel (directed by Florian Hain), the radio play About Persephone (directed by Charlotte S. Garraway), and the play METAMORPHOSEN [overcoming mankind] (directed by Claudia Bauer). She has worked as a dramaturgy assistant with directors including Lucia Bihler, Susanne Kennedy, and Pınar Karabulut. Since 2021, she has been working as a freelance dramaturg, actor, and movement director, as well as an outside eye and conceptual consultant for contemporary circus productions. Since June 2024, she has been a lecturer in Physical Theatre at arthaus.berlin (formerly LISPA) and a permanent member of the teaching team. Most recently, together with director Zeynep Özden, she adapted Les Pas Pardus / Kayıp Adımlar for a Turkish audience and worked on the production as dramaturg and movement director.

  • Jelle De Wit (born 1984, Bonheiden, Belgium) is a director, performer and coach based in Berlin. His work moves between physical theatre, devised performance and actor training, with a strong focus on presence, embodiment and composition — understood as the art of structuring movement, space and rhythm to create meaning beyond words.

    As a director and educator, Jelle explores how composition can generate theatrical images that emerge from the interplay of form, intention and perception rather than from narrative. His process is rooted in collaborative creation and an ongoing dialogue between performer, space and audience.

    He studied Directing and Theatre Education at the Fontys School of Fine and Performing Arts in Tilburg (NL), where he graduated in 2012. After working as a drama teacher and performer with companies such as Het Laagland (Sittard), Lucinda Ra/De Monty (Antwerp) and DefDef (Brussels), Jelle deepened his artistic practice in physical and devised theatre.  He completed a two-year full-time program at LISPA (now Arthaus Berlin) and earned an MA in Devised Theatre and Performance from Rose Bruford College London in 2019.

    From 2020 to 2025, Jelle was part of the teaching staff at Arthaus Berlin, where he guided students in the MA program Devised Theatre and Performance. Alongside this, he developed an international practice as a Public Speaking and Pitching Coach, teaching workshops at several European universities. He also creates a performance each year with young people aged 13 to 20, together with the team of ACADEMY Bühnenkunstschule & Produktionslabor, Berlin.

    As a performer, Jelle co-created the dance performance BLUE (2020) together with Francisco Martínez (assistant choreographer at Sasha Waltz & Guests, Berlin) and Thomas Mayer. In recent years, he has collaborated with the renowned mask theatre company Familie Flöz as assistant director for two  productions: Unter dem Meer, which premiered in November 2023 at Theater Basel (Switzerland), and Finale – eine Ouvertüre, premiering in October 2025 at the Berliner Ensemble (Germany).

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