Regine Elzenheimer

Regine Elzenheimer (PhD) is a dramaturge, theatre-scientist and lecturer. She has worked as dramaturg at the Frankfurt Opera House, the World exhibition EXPO2000 in Hannover and the Stuttgart Opera House and as a research associate and lecturer at the Frankfurt University. She is an author of numerous publications on contemporary music-theatre and post dramatic theatre. Now she is holding a position as a head of dramaturgical department at the Mannheim Opera House.

In her text Music-theatre dramaturgy after the post dramatic change of paradigm, Elzheimer writes that as far as contemporary theatre has changed fundamentally and developed lots of border crossing artistic approaches and post dramatic forms, the view on the field of dramaturgy has to be renewed. Processes of creating theatre become more and more not only an interpreting approach to a piece or creation but an artistic creation itself. Whereas the constitutive character of dramaturgical work in theatre is more ore less established, in music-theatre it is at the very beginning of encouraging ways of experimental approach to the "masterpieces, of thinking of music, text and space as material for the scenical work or conceptualizing music-theatre not only as performing opera in a repertory system but as a border crossing creative process of generating new pieces. Which means in practical a lot of convincing concerning contemporary music and theatre aswell as some kind of creative "disturbance of opera routine, also concerning the repertory of the past centuries. This convincing refers to the theatre (direction, musical staff, orchestra and choir) as well as to the public. In this sense music-theatre dramaturgy is challenged as constituting new ways and forms of musical theatricality and mediation.