THEATER HEUTE

Theater heute has become a leading authority on critical commentary on German-language theater since its inception. The magazine was founded in the summer of 1960 by Erhard Friedrich and Henning Rischbieter.

Together with the later dramaturge and director Ernst Wendt, Rischbieter developed a journal that went far beyond the typical daily review of theater. From the outset, *Theater heute* (Theater Today) observed not only the performances on stages in German-speaking countries—including East Germany—but also internationally.

Alongside reviews, it reflected on overarching connections and trends in contemporary theater. A particular focus was on new plays; every month, a new work was and still is printed in its entirety—an encyclopedia of world dramatic literature. Since the mid-1960s, the editorial team has conducted an annual critics' poll to determine the Theater, Play, Director, Actors, and Emerging Talent of the Year—a selection published in the yearbook that remains one of the most prestigious awards in the German-speaking theater scene.

Co-editor Henning Rischbieter was the driving force behind the journal's focus on internationally oriented and socially relevant theater. He was also one of the initiators of the Berlin Theatertreffen, which since 1963 has brought the most remarkable German-language productions of the season to Berlin. Other prominent figures also shaped the magazine. These included Siegfried Melchinger, who headed what was then Germany's most important theater section in the Stuttgarter Zeitung and was co-editor of Theater heute for several years .

Botho Strauß also began as an editor of Theater heute in 1967 before moving to the Schaubühne as a dramaturge three years later. From the mid-1970s, Peter von Becker worked for the magazine for almost two decades before becoming head of the arts section at the Tagesspiegel. Long-serving editors included Michael Merschmeier – later publisher of the Friedrich Berlin theater publishing house – Franz Wille, Barbara Burckhardt, and Eva Behrendt.

Today, Theater heute is a core component of the publishing house – and an indispensable voice in German cultural life. Nowhere else is theater discussed so intensely, no other medium reports so comprehensively and from so many angles on contemporary drama. Wherever theater goes in the future – Theater heute will critically accompany it.