Research-based Theater with Children and Teens
Esther Pilkington shares insights into her artistic research practice, which views research and research-based theater as a participatory process involving children and young people. Drawing on past and current projects, she begins by explaining how she identifies her research questions and how—and with whom—these questions then give rise to stage projects. Afterward, participants are invited to try out the first step in the process—namely, the conception of an artistic, participatory project—for themselves.
- In conversation: Esther Pilkington (performer and researcher)
- Moderator: Sabine Gehm (Vorstandsmitglied Fonds Darstellende Künste)
- Format: Research Workshop
- Spoken Language: German
- Venue: HAU3, Studio 1 (Pavilion 2), 1st floor
In Conversation
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Esther Pilkington
Performance Artist | Hamburg
© Daniel Ladnar
Esther Pilkington
Performance Artist | HamburgEsther Pilkington works as a performance artist and researcher in Hamburg. She carries out many of her projects in collectives—for example, with geheimagentur or random people. These projects take a wide variety of forms—from web series and lecture performances to actions in public spaces. Her projects are research-based and participatory and are often aimed at transgenerational audiences. She has a long-standing collaboration with the FUNDUS THEATER/Forschungstheater in Hamburg, where she most recently realized the projects "Schlafforschung" (“Sleep Research”) (2023), "Verkehrsforschung" (“Traffic Research”) (2024) and "Freundschaftsforschung" (“Friendship Research”) (2026). "Essensforschung" (“Food Research”) will premiere in the spring of 2027.
She leads numerous workshops in schools and regularly teaches at universities in the fields of theater, performance, and theater education.
Further Information: www.random-people.net -
Sabine Gehm
Co-Director of Schloss Bröllin, Board Member of Fonds | Bröllin/Berlin
© Dorothea Tuch
Sabine Gehm
Co-Director of Schloss Bröllin, Board Member of Fonds | Bröllin/BerlinSabine Gehm is currently co-director of the international residency program at Schloss Bröllin, a member of the management team for the MV tanzt an network, and a volunteer board member of the umbrella organization Tanz Deutschland.
From 2004 to 2026, she served as artistic director of the international festival TANZ Bremen. As a freelance curator and cultural manager, she conceived, curated, and organized—together with Katharina von Wilcke—the first four TANZKONGRESSE (2006–2016) for the German Federal Cultural Foundation, as well as international exchange projects, think tanks, labs, and academies, including for the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste and the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.
From 2015 to 2020, she served as chair of the board of trustees of the Fonds Darstellende Künste, where she led the decision-making processes in 2020 at the start of Neustart Kultur (including the publication of the handbook on jury procedures). She has served as an expert reviewer (Berlin Senate Department for Culture), sat on various juries for national and international programs, and works as a mentor for various artists. She has been a member of the board of the Fonds Darstellende Künste since 2026.