Iris Laufenberg

Artistic Director at Deutsches Theater, Berlin/Germany

Iris Laufenberg studied applied theatre studies in Giessen. Since her time as artistic director at the Bonner Biennale festival, a key focus of her work has been on new drama, an area which she further developed both during her ten years as festival director of the Theatertreffen of the Berliner Festspiele and subsequently as theatre director at the Konzert Theater Bern. In 2015, at the beginning of her artistic directorship at the Schauspielhaus Graz, Iris Laufenberg founded the annual International Playwrights Festival Graz (Internationales Dramatiker|innenfestival Graz) which promotes contemporary drama and young talents as well as the cross-border, content-related exchange among theatre professionals. Iris Laufenberg's focus on the thematic and aesthetic possibilities of the public space of (city) theatre between local roots and global necessity is reflected in interdisciplinary and cross-genre projects. Iris Laufenberg regularly serves as a jury member and takes on mentoring roles. She is actively involved both in representing the interests of theatre on a national and European level and in the further development of the art form. She is a board member and the secretary of the European Theatre Convention. Since 2023/2024, Iris Laufenberg has been the first female artistic director of the Deutsches Theater Berlin.