Protest-Hit Director Quits Berlin Theater

BERLIN — The director of Berlin’s storied Volksbühne theater, Chris Dercon, quit Friday after months of heated debate that saw the building occupied by left-wing activists who opposed his appointment as a betrayal of the theater’s roots.

Klaus Lederer, Berlin’s senator for culture, said in a statement that Dercon would be leaving his position immediately, citing a failure of the Belgian-born director’s vision for the Volksbühne to work out as hoped for in the roughly six months that he led the theater.

“We all agreed to make a new start possible,” Lederer told reporters Friday, after informing theater employees of the decision, which he said was reached Monday, after realizing that the Volksbühne was facing “a difficult situation.”

Within hours of the announcement, bright yellow posters saying “Bye Chris” in black gothic lettering appeared in the subway near the theater and were pasted over billboards advertising upcoming productions.

Since the naming of Dercon to replace its longtime director, Frank Castorf, the theater has been at the heart of a bitter debate that pitted employees and Castorf’s supporters against the new director’s idea to open the theater up as an interdisciplinary space for international productions.

Under Castorf, an icon of German theater, the Volksbühne made a name as a home for ambitious experimental productions with a rebellious, intellectual spirit that reflected the attitude of the newly reunified city. In the eyes of the theater’s many supporters, the appointment of Dercon, who had an international pedigree as a former director of contemporary art museums including Tate Modern in London, but relatively little experience in theater, seemed an affront.

Dercon’s first season began with an eclectic array of productions including a 10-hour dance event in which the audience was asked to join in, and an installation by Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul. But the first major world premiere of Dercon’s tenure, a new play by Catalan film director Albert Serra, who had not previously worked in the theater, was panned by critics: One said that it failed to satisfy even “the basic requirements for a successful theater production” and a review in The New York Times called it “a resounding failure.”

The dispute over the theater’s future became a microcosm of the larger debate taking place over the future of Berlin. After establishing itself as a haven for artists and boundary-bending creative minds, drawn by a post-reunification abundance of affordable housing and available public spaces, the city now finds itself confronted with the same concerns over gentrification and globalization that have been a death knell for independent artistic communities in thriving capitals around the world.

In the past decade, average rents in Berlin have more than doubled, and the city is experiencing a housing crunch, leading to protests in formerly rundown neighborhoods that have become increasingly popular for investors. Though the city has strong laws protecting renters, many longtime residents are facing eviction.

Lederer said that a replacement for Dercon would not be named immediately, stressing the importance of taking the time necessary to find a good long-term solution for the theater. He insisted that the problem was not one of numbers alone, even as several German news outlets reported the Volksbühne was in dire financial straits.

“The central point we all agreed to was that if we continue with business as usual, we would face a real, lasting problem that could have endangered the theater as a whole,” Lederer said.