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Small Theatre in Berlin
Small Theatre in Berlin © Jörn Harmann

Kleines Theater

Little Theatre, Big Stories

In a cosy, private atmosphere, the Kleines Theater presents fascinating life stories.

The Kleines Theater has a rather inconspicuous location in a middle-class residential neighbourhood in Friedenau. Its carefully selected programme, small bar, and cosy café ambience have made it a popular neighbourhood hangout. Holding just 93 people, there are no bad seats in the house offering a pleasantly intimate theatrical experience.

Life stories on stage

In the Little Theatre, the motto "Lebenswege / Lebensbrüche" (Life Paths / Life Breaks) under the artistic direction of Karin Bares is a common thread running through the programme. The plays also tell a piece of contemporary history through the life stories of real and fictional characters.

The Little Theatre is also a premiere stage: novels and stories are presented here, or presented to Berlin audiences for the first time in a specially prepared "small" version, for example Three Men in the Snow, Törless and the Dream Novella. The repertoire includes plays from the field of spoken theatre as well as musical productions, e.g. the song evening about Leonard Cohen We Take Berlin. Each season, the stage presents a repertoire of around 15 titles.

Künstlerkolonie Berlin

The Kleines Theater building is not far from Künstlerkolonie Berlin, a housing estate dating back to the late 1920s for low-income artists. It became a place for many resistance fighters to gather during the Nazi era. For example, the Comedian Harmonists got their start nearby. Marlene Dietrich is buried in the nearby cemetery on Stubenrauchstraße.