Culturally Sensitive Research
Benjamin Truong offers insights into culturally sensitive research based on his own experiences working with the Vietnamese-German community. Drawing on his productions “Can You Hear Me? – On Vietnamese-German Speechlessness” (2024) and “Substitute Relatives” (2026), he explores how culturally sensitive research can generate new perspectives and subject matter. And how theater creates opportunities for people who have previously felt underrepresented on stage.
- Workshop leaders: Benjamin Truong (director)
- Moderator: Anne-Cathrin Lessel (Board Member, Fonds Darstellende Künste)
- Format: Research Workshop
- Language: German
- Location: HAU3, Studio 1 (Pavilion 1), 1st floor
In Conversation
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Benjamin Truong
Director | Munich
© Masha Mollenhauer
Benjamin Truong
Director | MunichBenjamin Truong is a Vietnamese-German director who is deeply engaged with the accessibility of theater and seeks to foster a sense of community. Benjamin’s productions emerge from the interplay of dance, music, and language, making theater an accessible and sensory experience. It is particularly important to him not to create theater that excludes his own parents. For him, theater is a place for everyone.
He has directed productions at venues including the Salzburg Festival, Treibstoff Theatertage Basel, Deutsches Theater Munich, and HochX Munich.
At the heart of his work are Vietnamese-German life realities and intergenerational relationships. His next production, “Ersatzverwandte,” will premiere in December 2026 at HochX Munich and is a co-production with Theaterhaus Jena. [Line break]“Can You Hear Me?—On Vietnamese-German Speechlessness” was performed at HochX Munich, the Ballhaus Ost in Berlin, and at the OUTNOW! Festival at Theater Bremen.
Benjamin studied directing at the August Everding Theater Academy. He is a co-founder of the Vietnamese-German community “Pho our Community” in Munich and was a scholarship recipient of the German National Academic Foundation.
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Anne-Cathrin Lessel
Artistic Director LOFFT - DAS THEATER, Board Member of Fonds | Leipzig
© Tom Dachs
Anne-Cathrin Lessel
Artistic Director LOFFT - DAS THEATER, Board Member of Fonds | LeipzigAnne-Cathrin Lessel studied theater studies, psychology, and cultural studies at the University of Leipzig. Until 2011, she worked as a freelancer on artistic projects with children and young people, primarily at the Theater an der Parkaue in Berlin.
In 2011, she became the program and production director at LOFFT – DAS THEATER, and in 2019 she took over as its artistic director and managing director.
Anne-Cathrin Lessel has been actively involved in cultural policy at various levels for many years: for 12 years she served on the board of the Bundesverbandes Freie Darstellende Künste; since 2020 she has been a board member of the Landesverband der Freien Theater in Saxony; since 2023 she has been a board member of the Fonds Darstellende Künste; and starting in 2025 she will serve on the board of the Bundesverband Zeitgenössischer Zirkus.
Among other things, she is also a member of various expert juries, including those for the City of Leipzig, the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, the German National Academic Foundation, the National Performance Network, and various festivals.