© 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).
born in Katowice (PL), in the zodiac sign Libra, with ascendant Libra and moon in Scorpio. In 2011, she completed her diploma in design and fine arts, specialising in graphics, at the T. Kantor Art High School and graduated in stage and costume design at the HfBK Dresden in 2017. This was followed by a permanent position at the Münchner Kammerspiele, where she worked as best girl from 2017 to 2020 with Philippe Quesne, Trajal Harrell, Florentina Holzinger, Susanne Kennedy, Marta Górnicka, Alexander Giesche and Henrike Iglesias, among others. Her work as a freelance visual designer for theatre and film has taken her to venues such as the Münchner Kammerspiele, Schauspiel Dortmund, Staatsschauspiel Dresden, Theater Augsburg, TJG Dresden, Festspielhaus Hellerau and the Gorki Theatre. She feels most comfortable somewhere between free art and enabling technical madness.
works as a freelance artist at the crossroads of conceptualisation, aesthetic research and artistic intervention. Recurring forms of work are play development, specifics and immersive spatial installations. As a director, she works at the interface between theatre, installation and performance.
She realises productions in the independent scene and at municipal theatres and develops educational theatre formats. In addition to her theatre work, she regularly works with people with disabilities.
is a bilingual writer living in London who focuses on poetry, essays and opera libretti. He has published two books of poetry in Croatia (“Listing Thing” 2013, “Dropdown Menu” 2015) and has had two operas performed at the Royal Opera House in London, UK (“Colony” 2015, “Greenland” 2015). Aleksandar holds an MA in Opera Writing from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and has been awarded two poetry prizes – the Ulaznica Prize, Serbia 2011, and the Fernando Pessoa Prize, Croatia 2012.
