Wanderlust – Fund for International Theatre Partnerships

Wanderlust is the urge to travel and broaden one's horizons. The German Federal Cultural Foundation is committed to fulfilling this dream for municipal and state theatres in Germany which would like to establish a partnership with a foreign theatre. "Wanderlust" is an application-based fund that finances theatre partnership and exchange for two to three seasons. In the first year, the theatres could exchange artistic personnel. In the second, they might choose to host a guest production from their partner theatre. And in the third year, the theatres could organize a co-production to be performed at both locations. The partner theatres are free to organize the details of their working arrangement themselves according to their interests and capacities. The goal is to involve as many members of each theatre in the cooperative venture as possible. The fund also provides the option of continuing an existing partnership in the case that both partner theatres begin a new project. Project applications were selected by the Executive Board of the Federal Cultural Foundation based on the recommendations of an independent jury consisting of Michael Börgerding (director of the Theaterakademie Hamburg), Stefan Schmidtke (director of the programme department for the European Capital of Culture - Tallinn 2011) and Eva-Maria Voigtländer (dramaturge for the Ruhr Triennial).

The Federal Cultural Foundation can award a maximum of 150,000 euro per partnership. The applying theatre or third-party sponsors must finance at least 25 % of the entire cost of the project.

The fund runs for five years. The last submission deadline ended 15 October 2009. 
 

Current Events of the Wanderlust Fund 

Overview of the Theatre Partnerships supported by the Wanderlust Fund

529 km to the Future
Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin and Narodowy Stary Teatr, Cracow

Attention Pioneers!
Staatstheater Braunschweig and z/k/m – Zagrebacko kazalište mladih, Zagreb, Croatia

Border Crossers / Outrepasseurs
Thalia Theater Halle and Théâtre de la Tête Noire, Saran

Borderlines
Theater an der Parkaue and West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds

Bromberg's Bloody Sunday
Landesbühne Niedersachsen Nord Wilhelmshaven and Teatr Polski, Bydgoszcz, Poland

Cabinet
Theater Freiburg and garajistanbul, Istanbul

Crossing Borders – From Lake to Lake
Theater Konstanz and Nanzikambe Arts, Blantyre, Malawi

Dacha Europa
Munich Kammerspiele and Smeds Ensemble, Helsinki, Finland

Do I know U?
Nationaltheater Mannheim / Schnawwl and Ranga Shankara Theatre, Bangalore

Druschba
Landestheater Tübingen and the Karelian National Theatre, Petrozavodsk

Family Ties
Theatre and Philharmonic Orchestra of Heidelberg and Teatron Beit Lessin, Tel Aviv

Fatzer Crosses the Alps
Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin and Teatro Stabile Torino, Italy

Frau Luna. The Launch of a Berlin Operetta from the Border
Uckermärkische Bühnen Schwedt and Opera na Zamku w Szczecinie

Homeland Biladi
Schauspiel Leipzig / Spinnwerk and The Freedom Theatre, Jenin refugee camp

Les funerailles du desert
Mainfranken Theater Würzburg and C.I.T.O. Carrefour International Théâtre Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Looking for Legends
Gerhart Hauptmann-Theater Görlitz-Zittau and Zdrojowy Teatr Animacji, Jelenia Góra, Poland

My Cold Chamber
Puppentheater Halle, Saale and Compagnie Louis Brouillard, Paris, France

People, Cars and Oil. The Carmakers of Barcelona and Stuttgart
Schauspiel Stuttgart / Staatstheater Stuttgart and Teatre Romea, Barcelona

SumSum²
Theater Erlangen and Teatr Pokoleniy, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Best of All Possible Worlds
Schauspielhaus Bochum and Veenfabriek, Leiden, Netherlands

The Future Strikes Back
Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin and Habima National Theatre, Tel Aviv, Israel

The Pursuit of Happiness
Oldenburgisches Staatstheater and Kopergietery, Ghent

The Voices of Russe
Theater Osnabrück and Drama Theater, Russe

The White Chamber
Westfälische Kammerspiele, Paderborn and Huajuyuan Theatre, Qingdao, China

Theatre from the Very Beginning
Theater Junge Generation Dresden and Academic Kiselyov Youth Theatre, Saratov, Russia

Two Places - One Piece
Theater Oberhausen and Teatrul National Radu Stanca, Sibiu

View from the Outside / Blikket Udefra
Staatsschauspiel Dresden and Det Kongelige Teater Copenhagen, Denmark

Where the Metaphors Bloom
Junges Ensemble Stuttgart and La Baracca, Bologna, Italy