Director and writer Armin Petras will be the new artistic director of the Bremen Theatre. Mayor and Senator for Culture Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) announced this on Thursday. Petras is scheduled to take over the theatre on Goetheplatz for the 2027/28 season. The 61-year-old succeeds general director Michael Börgerding, who died in early 2025.

Introduction of Armin Petras (M.) as the new artistic director at the Bremen Theatre

There were 53 applicants for the position. With Petras, the selection committee has gained a renowned theater expert, explained Bovenschulte. "I am convinced that he will continue the successful course of recent years set by his predecessor Michael Börgerding, who sadly passed away far too soon, and that Theater Bremen will maintain its status as one of Bremen's most successful cultural institutions."

Petras, born in East Berlin in 1964, was resident playwright and resident director at the Theater Bremen from 2018 to 2022. His musical theatre productions included "Anna Karenina", "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk", "Die tote Stadt" and "Jenufa".

Petras knows the Bremen Theatre well and has been in close contact with Börgerding, added State Secretary for Culture Carmen Emigholz (SPD). "We chose Petras because he always manages to infuse proven work with elements of renewal, which has consistently characterized his style throughout his career," said Emigholz, who is also chair of the supervisory board at the Bremen Theatre and chair of the selection committee.

The designated artistic director called his appointment a "great honor." He was aware that he was stepping into very large artistic shoes after Börgerding. "I will continue the path he has forged for this magnificent institution and at the same time carefully guide it in new directions, so that together with the superb ensemble that Theater Bremen boasts, we will continue to offer the local theater audience fantastic productions," he explained.

Petras will expand his artistic leadership team with Franziska Benack and Frederike Krüger as his deputies. Benack has previously held various leadership positions at Theater Bremen and has been part of the theater's drama department since the 2025/26 season. Krüger joined Theater Bremen in 2022 as a dramaturge for musical theater. Since the current season, she has been the lead dramaturge for musical theater and a member of the artistic leadership team.

After studying directing at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, Petras worked as artistic director at the Nordhausen Theatre and as resident director at the Leipzig Theatre. From 1999 to 2002, he was artistic director of the drama department at the Kassel State Theatre. He then became resident director at the Frankfurt Theatre. In 2006, he became artistic director of the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin. From 2013 to 2018, he held the same position at the Stuttgart Theatre. From 2022 to 2025, he co-directed the drama department at the Cottbus State Theatre with Franziska Benack and Philipp Rosendahl.

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