Anatomical Theatre
Riphahnsaal
4.9.–13.12.2026
By Andreas Selg with Fabienne Boldt and Emanuel Rossetti
Where the Stage Ends
Valérie Knoll in conversation with Andreas Selg
You describe the Anatomical Theatre as a “theatre without theatre”. How should we look at this strange structure, which is something that it is not?
By “theatre without theatre” I mean “theatre without drama”, or rather: a theatre without acting. What interests me are the other roles: direction, dramaturgy, stage design, masks, props, the dialogue behind the scenes … in short: I am interested in the entire apparatus, theatre in its skeletal form. That is what the “play” shows: the audience can go onto the stage and behind it. As for the question of how we should look at this structure: like an exhibition.
The title already hints at it: this is a theatre that differs from the ordinary stage play. What were your thoughts on the title?
The anatomical theatre is the room, usually a lecture hall of the medical faculty, where dissections of corpses are performed. So, the anatomical theatre is not a theatre but a place of scrutiny. The place where the interior is brought to light. Initially, I liked the acoustic proximity to “anatomy of theatre”, until I read about the beginnings of public dissection during the carnival in Bologna. From then on, the title was set.
