Hamburg's Thalia Theater has a multitude of options for non-German-speaking theatre enthusiasts. While their programme includes plays performed in languages other than German (for example English, Arabic, Dutch and French), many German or multilingual productions include surtitles in other languages to help audiences follow productions in any language. Surtitles are similar to subtitles, but the translated text scrolls unobtrusively on a screen above the stage instead of at the bottom of a screen.
Thalia Theater at Alstertor
Thalia Theater, located right in Hamburg’s City Centre between the Inner Alster lake and the Mönckebergstraße shopping street, is one of the most successful state theatres in Germany. The programme combines world premieres, classic pieces, and exciting projects by international artists.
The company's artistic success is reflected in its numerous awards. Thalia productions have been invited as guest performances far beyond Europe and have been shown at many international festivals, including Avignon, Beijing, Bogotá, Moscow, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Shanghai and St. Petersburg.
International Productions
The Thalia Theater has an international outlook, as demonstrated by the fact that selected productions are regularly shown with English and Turkish surtitles.
Joachim Lux has been the theatre's artistic director since 2009 and is strongly committed to promoting understanding between cultures and religions. For example, he initiated the international theatre festival ‘Um alles in der Welt – Lessingtage’, which was celebrated as a ‘new fixed star in Hamburg's cultural sky’ (Hamburger Abendblatt). The Lessingtage festival is always held between the dates of the birthday and death of German writer and playwright Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, that is, between the end of January and the beginning of February.
Theatre Bar: Nachtasyl
Way up high under the roof of the Thalia Theatre is the bar Nachtasyl (lit.: ‘Night Asylum’). It is a performance venue, theatre bar and club – a meeting place for everyone: actors and staff, theatre audience and clubbers.
In addition to the Thalia Theatre at Alstertor, there is another venue in Altona, the Thalia Gaußstraße.
A Note on Language
Most plays at Thalia Theater are performed in German. While many German productions include English surtitles, the opposite is also frequently true. Productions with surtitles in Turkish are also common, as are multilingual productions with surtitles in both English and German. The variety has been growing steadily for years.
For more information and current event schedule, please visit Thalia Theater.
Address
Thalia Theater
Alstertor
20095 Hamburg
Getting There
S1, S2, S3, S5, U1, U2 and U4 trains to Jungfernstieg; Exit: Alstertor
U3 trains to Mönckebergstraße
Bus lines 3, 5, and 19 to Gerhart-Hauptmann-Platz