© TamonYashima
Adrian Laugsch (he/him) writes music for concerts, stage productions and films. Based on a musical and sonic exploration of historically, (auto)biographically or nostalgically charged material, Adrian’s compositional work is largely influenced by his interest in expanding the content and form of sound through theatrical, interdisciplinary and multimedia strategies. This is accompanied by a focus on queer, hybrid, non-normative and transgressive (sound) identities. His music is performed by renowned orchestras and ensembles (including Ensemble Musikfabrik, JACK Quartet, MDR Symphony Orchestra) and has been awarded several national and international prizes (Wilfried Steinbrenner Foundation Scholarship, 1st Prize Osnabrück Composition Competition, 2nd prize at the International Gustav Mahler Competition in Klagenfurt, scholarship from the Akademie Musiktheater heute).
© Neda Navaee
Binha Haase (they/them) works as a video artist, filmmaker (writing, directing, editing) and musician. With a focus on video installation and interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of video and music performance, Binha explores queer-feminist themes and issues related to social roles and their (power) dynamics. Binha’s works often take place in a theatrical architecture, linking questions of gender (roles) and decoloniality with traditional cultural-historical performance practices. As a trained musician, sound, musical compositions and the human voice play a decisive role for Binha, both as a means of expression and in a socio-political context. Binha’s works have been shown at the Kunstmuseum Luzern, the Lucerne Festival, the Melina Mercouri Cultural Centre in Athens, Sonic Matters Zurich, the Halle Opera House, the Paradoks – Festival for Video Art, the Vienna Shorts and the European Media Art Festival Osnabrück, among others.
© Vero Bielinski
Zero Pilnik (they/them) is from São Paulo and is an actor, screenwriter and drag king. In addition to roles in television and film productions, Zero’s career also includes various works (from solo shows to spoken theatre and musicals) as a performer and author at theatres such as Ballhaus Ost, Volksbühne Berlin and Maxim Gorki Theater. Zero is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts and has received scholarships from the Berlin Senate, the Academy of Arts and LABA Berlin, as well as the 2017 Tim Disney Prize. Zero was also nominated for the Pretty Original Award at the 2023 Seriencamp Conference for the pilot episode of BRUTES, a dystopian queer western series.
© privat
Sam Zamrik (they/them) is an author, translator, researcher, and political educator. Their work focuses on the intersections of exile, trauma, and queerness in relation to material and social conditions. As co-founder of the underground music scene ‘New Wave of Syrian Metal,’ Zamrik led several music projects and wrote song lyrics. She also wrote and co-produced the 2018 documentary film ‘Syrian Metal Is War.’ Her poems and articles have appeared in taz, Tagesspiegel, Rolling Stone Middle East, VICE and Legacy Magazine DE, among others. Her bilingual poetry collection ‘Ich bin nicht’ (I Am Not) was published by Hanser in 2022 and included in the list of poetry recommendations by the German Academy for Language and Poetry.
© Moritz Richter
Lina Mayer (she/her) is a costume and set designer in the fields of theatre, film and performance, and is also responsible for her own exhibition projects. In her costume designs, Lina often addresses issues of gender (norms) and develops creative strategies to challenge stereotypical representations and open up new perspectives on identity. Lina’s work has taken her to stages such as the Schauspiel Hannover, the Theater Zittau, the Theatre Fraschini (Pavia) and Berlin stages such as the Deutsches Theater, the Maxim Gorki and the Theater an der Parkaue. In 2019, her work ‘Penthesilea – love is to die’ (E-Werk Freiburg/ Theaterdiscounter Berlin) was awarded the Newcomer Prize at the Performing Arts Festival Berlin.
Antina Christ (they/them) is a make-up artist working in music videos, fashion, film, musicals and editorial shoots, with outstanding expertise in drag hair and make-up. She has worked for Katja Zamolodchikova (named one of the 20 most influential drag queens in the USA by New York Magazine) and regularly designs looks for renowned queer magazines such as KALTBLUT, L-MAG and Siegessäule. In the theatre sector, she has been involved in productions at HAU (Hebbel am Ufer) Berlin. In addition to her work behind the scenes, Antina is herself active as a drag queen and also curates her own Berlin show, Antina’s Spook House, as a drag host, featuring regular performances by international drag queens and kings.
© Alp Ilyas Klanten
Crispin Lord (he/him) studied music (Durham University) and dance (HZT Berlin) and works throughout Europe as a music theatre director, choreographer and performer. He is co-founder and artistic director of the Berlin music theatre collective Slung Jugs and has directed his own projects at the Uferstudios in Berlin and the Barbican Pit Theatre in London. Crispin is a regular director at the English National Opera; assistant directing and stage design work has also taken him to the Komische Oper Berlin, the Bregenz Festival, the Berlin festival ‘Schall und Rausch’ and the Grange Festival in Hampshire. Crispin received the stART.up scholarship from the Claussen-Simon Foundation (2025–26) and a mentorship from the Genesis Foundation (2025–26). In addition to his stage work, he serves as vice-chairman of the BGNM (Berlin Society for New Music).
studied opera singing with Julia Varady and Christine Schäfer at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. In her search for a cross-genre performance and theatrical language, she has since created a wide range of works spanning classical music theatre, performance and drama, which have taken her to venues including the Bavarian State Opera, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the National Theatre Weimar, the Wuppertal Opera, the Saarland State Theatre, the Hanover State Theatre, the Théâtre de l’Athénée Paris and the Bremen Theatre. Since 2015, she has been working closely with the Berlin music theatre collective ‘Hauen und Stechen’.
www.angelabraunsoprano.com
studied political science, administrative science and history with a focus on cultural and theatre policy. For many years, she has been working as a freelance production manager for various theatre collectives, authors and directors (including Gruppe Laokoon, FUX, Nele Stuhler, Paula Thielecke, Kaufmann/Witt). She is a member of LAFT Berlin and KuPoGe.
© Jasmin Knitter
Jasmin (Xenia) Knitter was born in May 1999 and grew up in Berlin. Since childhood, fashion and storytelling have been among her greatest passions. Influenced by Berlin’s club culture and her night-time wanderings through the city, her sense of colour, authenticity and contrasts flows into her work.
After completing her training at the Modeschule Berlin (graduating in 2021), she worked as a costume assistant at various theatres in German-speaking countries. Since the 2024/25 season, she has been permanently engaged at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. She created her first costume designs in 2023 for short films at the Film University Babelsberg, independent music video productions, the Munich Biennale and the Roter Salon at the Volksbühne. ‘Die Kantine’ is her second collaboration with Nico Sauer.
