Lessingtage 2026

With a thematic focus on “Post-Populism”, the Lessingtage (Lessing Days) festival in winter 2026 will use artistic, theatrical and scientific means to examine our present, which is increasingly characterised by right-wing populism, anti-democratic tendencies and the digital business models of technology companies. The festival will explore ways in which societies can liberate themselves from populism and tech monopolism.
Theatre productions by renowned directors, including Marta Górnicka and Jakob Skrywanek, will shed light on the situation in Poland, for example, while a symposium will address the processes and challenges of re-democratisation. Milo Rau, director of the Wiener Festwochen and renowned for his theatrical tribunals, will stage a “Hamburg trial” against tech companies.

Artistic direction: Matthias Lilienthal
Directors: Marta Górnicka, Julien Gosselin, Milo Rau, Jakub Skrywanek 

Festival: Thalia Theater, Hamburg: 30.01.–14.02.2026