Some of the city's theaters are built for kids, not adults. Whole houses stage musicals and plays written for one age group at a time, and small puppet stages run short shows with live music, marionettes and shadow play. Most shows are in German, though some puppet pieces use no words at all. Here's what we checked, from ATZE Musiktheater to a puppet theater inside Treptower Park.
Billed as Germany's largest music theater for children and families, with about 100,000 visitors a year. Shows are sung and spoken in German, mixing live music with stories from picture books, fairy tales and classics like Emil und die Detektive.
There are three stages: a 480-seat main hall, a 150-seat studio, and a 60-seat tent stage upstairs built as a first theater outing for the youngest.
GRIPS Theater stages plays and musicals for children and teens built on stories from their own lives: school, friendship, family, first love, bullying in class chats.
The main house at Hansaplatz is an arena stage with unnumbered seats, so kids sit close to the actors. A smaller studio stage runs at Podewil near Alexanderplatz. The repertoire includes GRIPS song concerts and the musical Linie 1.
Theater an der Parkaue is Berlin's state theater for young audiences, with three stages and two studios under one roof. The program runs from short plays for preschoolers to teen dramas, dance and talks, and most shows are in German.
Kids can also make theater themselves in the Planet P clubs and workshops. Some performances are audio-described, signed or run as relaxed performances.
Schaubude Berlin is a puppet and object theater where puppets, objects and the performers who move them share the stage, often joined by dance, music or visual art. The program changes every week: daytime shows for children, evening shows for teens and adults. Some kids' shows are wordless, others are in German, so check each listing. Every fall the theater runs the international Theater der Dinge festival.
Figurentheater Grashüpfer is a small puppet theater in the middle of Treptower Park, open since 1997. Professional touring companies from Berlin and across Germany fill the program: hand puppets on a peep-box stage, marionettes, shadow puppets, object theater and shows kids can join in.
Beyond the plays, the theater runs family craft afternoons, fairy-tale evenings and kids' birthday parties.
Puppentheater Berlin has been staging figure theater since 1984 in a small hall by the Luisenkirche, with about 70 seats for afternoon kids' shows. The repertoire mixes hand puppets, marionettes, shadow play and masks, from fairy tales like Hänsel und Gretel to Karneval der Tiere. Almost every show has live music on piano, violin or cello. Shows for the youngest invite kids to sing along; evening shows are for adults.
Some of the city's theaters are built for kids, not adults. Whole houses stage musicals and plays written for one age group at a time, and small puppet stages run short shows with live music, marionettes and shadow play. Most shows are in German, though some puppet pieces use no words at all. Here's what we checked, from ATZE Musiktheater to a puppet theater inside Treptower Park.
Billed as Germany's largest music theater for children and families, with about 100,000 visitors a year. Shows are sung and spoken in German, mixing live music with stories from picture books, fairy tales and classics like Emil und die Detektive.
There are three stages: a 480-seat main hall, a 150-seat studio, and a 60-seat tent stage upstairs built as a first theater outing for the youngest.
GRIPS Theater stages plays and musicals for children and teens built on stories from their own lives: school, friendship, family, first love, bullying in class chats.
The main house at Hansaplatz is an arena stage with unnumbered seats, so kids sit close to the actors. A smaller studio stage runs at Podewil near Alexanderplatz. The repertoire includes GRIPS song concerts and the musical Linie 1.
Theater an der Parkaue is Berlin's state theater for young audiences, with three stages and two studios under one roof. The program runs from short plays for preschoolers to teen dramas, dance and talks, and most shows are in German.
Kids can also make theater themselves in the Planet P clubs and workshops. Some performances are audio-described, signed or run as relaxed performances.
Schaubude Berlin is a puppet and object theater where puppets, objects and the performers who move them share the stage, often joined by dance, music or visual art. The program changes every week: daytime shows for children, evening shows for teens and adults. Some kids' shows are wordless, others are in German, so check each listing. Every fall the theater runs the international Theater der Dinge festival.
Figurentheater Grashüpfer is a small puppet theater in the middle of Treptower Park, open since 1997. Professional touring companies from Berlin and across Germany fill the program: hand puppets on a peep-box stage, marionettes, shadow puppets, object theater and shows kids can join in.
Beyond the plays, the theater runs family craft afternoons, fairy-tale evenings and kids' birthday parties.
Puppentheater Berlin has been staging figure theater since 1984 in a small hall by the Luisenkirche, with about 70 seats for afternoon kids' shows. The repertoire mixes hand puppets, marionettes, shadow play and masks, from fairy tales like Hänsel und Gretel to Karneval der Tiere. Almost every show has live music on piano, violin or cello. Shows for the youngest invite kids to sing along; evening shows are for adults.
