Matthias Frense

Matthias Frense studied theater in Hull, England, and in Berlin, as well as theater directing at the Theaterakademie in Hamburg. His first engagement was at Hamburg's Thalia Theater, where he assisted Jürgen Flimm, Dimiter Gotscheff, George Tabori and Robert Wilson, among others. Under the directorship of William Forsythe, Frense was engaged as production manager at the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main between 2002 and 2004. He worked as production manager and dramaturg for independent theater companies (including Maß & Fieber, Rauwald Company) in Germany and Switzerland, for Cirque du Soleil in Munich and for the Ruhrtriennale in Essen. In 2006, Frense came to Mülheim as a dramaturg to help transform the Ringlokschuppen socio-cultural center into a theater production house. Since 2015, he has been Artistic Director and Managing Director of the house, which over many years has been and continues to be a co-production partner for artists/groups such as andcompany&Co., Anna Kpok, Boris Nikitin, CocoonDance, Cooperativa Maura Morales, Gintersdorfer/Klaßen, kainkollektiv, LIGNA, Marta Górnicka, Martin Ambara, Monster Truck or vorschlag:hammer. In 2019, Ringlokschuppen Ruhr was awarded the Theaterpreis des Bundes.