Franziska Werner

Dramaturge and curator Franziska Werner was born in East Berlin in 1975 and grew up in Weimar. She studied Theatre Studies/Cultural Communication, Art History and European Ethnology at the Humboldt University in Berlin and Études Théâtrales at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. After her studies, she worked as a freelance dramaturge, curator or production manager for various artists in Berlin as well as for festivals and venues throughout Germany. From 2011 to 2023, she was Artistic Director of Sophiensaele Berlin, where she co-curated the festivals ‘The Future is FEMAL*E’ (2017), ‘Das Ost-West-Ding’ (2019), ‘Coming of Age’ (2021) and ‘Leisure & Pleasure’ (May/June 2023), among others.

Franziska Werner's curatorial interests lie in questions of work ethics and accessibility, the link between humour and queer feminism, performativity and everyday life as well as body politics and questions of origin. She pays particular attention to so-called ‘East German themes’, as these often spill over into pan-German and international discourses as well as global issues and systemic questions. Franziska Werner was and is active on various juries and committees, such as the advisory board of the Goethe-Institut's theatre/dance department, the board of LAFT Berlin e. V., as a mentor for LAFT Berlin e. V.'s PAP, on the board of trustees of Fonds darstellende Künste e. V., the Berlin Council for the Arts and the German Cultural Council's mentoring programme ‘Women in Culture & Media’. Franziska Werner has been Artistic Director of the Impulse Festival for Performance, Theatre & Dance since September 2024.