KRZYSZTOF MINKOWSKI (DIRECTOR)
Born on May 19, 1980, in Szczecin, Poland, Krzysztof Minkowski first studied business administration in Frankfurt an der Oder, then theater studies and acting in Berlin, and finally theater directing at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. This was followed by various engagements as a director, with over 50 productions in Germany, Poland, Denmark, Austria, and Switzerland. With Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” in Jelenia Góra, he won the theater award for best production of the season and received an invitation to the Warsaw Theater Festival. In 2016, he was invited to the International Forum of the Berlin Theater Festival.
KONRAD SCHALLER (SET DESIGN)
Born in Berlin in 1975, he completed a four-year apprenticeship as a boatbuilder before studying industrial design at the University of Art and Design in Halle/Saale and subsequently stage and costume design at the Berlin-Weissensee School of Art. This was followed by various engagements as a set and costume designer on over 50 international productions with director Krzysztof Minkowski. Konrad Schaller created the set designs for Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s *Invasion!* and *Idiots* (based on the film by Lars von Trier) at the Lucerne Theater, as well as *Truth or Dare*, *The Crucible*, and *Ronia the Robber’s Daughter* for the Theater St. Gallen. At the Volkstheater Rostock, he designed Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” and, most recently, “Dirty Hands” by J. P. Sartre.
JOHANNES HOFFMANN (TEXT)
Johannes Hoffmann is an author, actor, and transdisciplinary artist. He studied acting at MUK Vienna, playwriting at uniT Graz, and earned a master’s degree in transdisciplinarity from the Zurich University of the Arts. After holding permanent positions as an actor at theaters in Austria and Germany, he has been working as a freelance artist since 2013, writing primarily for the stage. In 2021, Johannes Hoffmann won the Retzhofer Drama Prize in the category of plays for children and young people for his play “nachtschattengewächse.” In 2023, he received the “Grand Arts Grant for the Performing Arts” from the State of Burgenland for the development of a new play.
MICHA KAPLAN (MUSIC)
Micha Kaplan is an Israeli composer, songwriter, bassist, and producer. He was born in Tel Aviv in 1975 and has been working as a bassist in the alternative rock scene since the 1990s. In 2000, he moved to Berlin and began studying double bass at the Berlin University of the Arts. He composes and performs for theater, film, art videos, and VR projects at venues including: Volksbühne Berlin, Schauspiel Stuttgart, Deutsches Theater Berlin, Maxim Gorki Berlin, Neumarkt Zurich, Teatr Powszechny Warsaw, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, HAU Berlin, Theater Oberhausen, ARS Electronica Festival, Festival de Cannes, Berlinale Film Festival, and Sarajevo Film Festival. In 2023, he released his composition for a trio (soprano, horn, cello)
WOJTEK ZRAŁEK-KOSSAKOWSKI (DRAMATURGY/TEXT)
Wojtek Zrałek-Kossakowski was born in 1982 in Warsaw, Poland. He studied philosophy and is an artist active in the fields of theater, music, and cultural programming. In theater, he works as a director, dramaturg, and composer. He is also a translator and writer. His texts have been published in “Krytyka Polityczna,” “Gazeta Wyborcza,” and other publications. As a music producer, he has collaborated with Candelaria Saenz Valiente and Marcin Masecki, among others. In 2013, he served as deputy artistic director and co-author of the program for the “Łódź Czterech Kultur” festival. From 2016 to 2017, he worked as a dramaturg at Teatr Studio in Warsaw.
LIANNE MOL (PRODUCTION)
Lianne Mol (born 1992, Netherlands) is a freelance production manager for theater and performance. She collaborates with artists and companies such as Joana Tischkau, Theatre Fragile, Krzysztof Minkowski, and Omer Krieger. Lianne holds a research master’s degree in Cultural Studies and Art and Visual Culture from Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She is a co-founder of the Curatorial Collective for Public Art, which has been realizing participatory art and cultural projects in public spaces since 2019.
MARIA FOCARACCIO (ASSISTANT)
Maria Focaraccio (b. 1992) works as a dancer for the Imperfect Dancers Company, Fattoria Vittadini, C&C Company, and Tanztheater Erfurt. As a choreographer, she has created *Storie Brevi – nulla di troppo intimo* (selected for the *Vetrina della giovane danza d’autore* in 2019), *DIA – Fantasie Ritmiche* (2020, in collaboration with MariaGiulia Serantoni), and *Ghosts Are My Reality*. For the 2024–2025 season, she is serving as an assistant director at the Vaganten Bühne Berlin on the production *Genannt Gospodin*, directed by Bettina Rehm. After completing her degree in philosophy at the University of Pisa, Maria is currently studying dance studies at the Free University of Berlin.
RASHIDAH ALJUNIED (PERFORMANCE)
Rashidah Aljunied was born in Weilburg in 1984. After graduating from high school, she moved to Hamburg, where she completed her acting training at the Frese Acting Studio in Hamburg. She subsequently worked at various theaters in Germany, including the Stadttheater Pforzheim, Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Maxim-Gorki Theater Berlin, Altes Schauspielhaus Stuttgart, Hebbel am Ufer Berlin, Heimathafen Neukölln, and others. She collaborated with Hans Werner Krösinger and Regine Dura on various documentary theater productions. Rashidah lives in Tampere, Finland. There, she has worked at the Theater Telakka, among other venues, and appeared in a radio play that addresses the topics of climate change and agriculture. She is particularly interested in collective work and collaborative research.
MARTA MALIKOWSKA (PERFORMANCE)
Marta Malikowska is a well-known film and theater actress, performer, and singer. She graduated from the Kraków Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2005. This was followed by roles in numerous Polish theaters and films. Marta Malikowska has collaborated with many renowned directors, including Anna Augustynowicz, Wojtek Klemm, Michał Zadara, Barbara Wysocka, Agnieszka Olsten, Weronika Szczawińska, Michał Borczuch, Wiktor Rubin, Katarzyna Kalwat, Krystyna Meissner, Grzegorz Jarzyna, and Anna Smolar. With “O dwóch takich, co ukradli księżyc” (The Two Moon Thieves), the opening production of the MYTHS OF REALITY series, she made her debut at the Maxim Gorki Theater with a spectacular show.
OKSANA CHERKASHYNA (PERFORMANCE)
Oksana Cherkashyna was born on May 7, 1988, in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and studied at the I. K. Karpenko-Kary
, the National University of Theater, Film, and Television in Kyiv, where she earned a Master of Arts degree in 2009. She has received several major awards and has been recognized for her exceptional achievements on stage and in film. In 2019, she was awarded two of the most prestigious prizes in Polish theater: the Best Actress Award at the All-Polish Competition for Contemporary Art and second prize for Best Actress at the Divine Comedy Festival in Kraków.
MAYA ALBAN-ZAPATA (PERFORMANCE)
Actress, singer, and activist Maya Alban-Zapata grew up in Paris and Berlin. She has performed at venues including the Deutsches Theater Berlin, the Berliner Volksbühne, the Berliner Festspiele, the Theater Biel-Solothurn, the Staatstheater Saarbrücken, the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf, the Neuköllner Oper, the Renaissance Theater, and in numerous independent productions in Switzerland and the Netherlands. Maya Alban-Zapata also develops her own projects—both independently and in collaboration with other artists—that primarily explore the experiences of Black people and people of color in a predominantly white society. In 2017, she appeared at the Ballhaus Naunynstraße for the reading “Die Gelegenheit” by Label Noir.
CAROLINE HICKMAN (CLIMATE PSYCHOLOGIST)
Caroline Hickman graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 1983 with a B.A. in Applied Social Studies with Social Work. I worked for several years in South London on teams specializing in mental health and child and family social work, and I qualified as a social work field instructor, supervising students during their field placements, as well as a registered mental health social worker. For four years, I directed a practice-based learning center that arranged social work internships in the nonprofit sector, while also teaching at the University of North London and South Bank University. Research interests: climate change, climate and ecological crisis psychology, children’s communication, ecopsychology
PROF. DR. WOLFGANG LUCHT (CLIMATE RESEARCHER)
Wolfgang Peter Lucht, born Wolfgang Wanner (born May 30, 1964, in Sindelfingen), is a German physicist and professor of geography specializing in climate research, Earth system analysis, and sustainability science. He is Chair of the Earth System Analysis Department at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and holds the Alexander von Humboldt Chair in Sustainability Science at the Institute of Geography at Humboldt University in Berlin. In July 2016, he was appointed to the German Advisory Council on the Environment to advise the federal government. Wolfgang Lucht has published numerous works on sustainability, Earth system analysis, and climate change.
PROF. DR. MOJIB LATIF (OCEANOGRAPHER)
At the University of Hamburg, Mojib Latif studied business administration, mathematics, physics, oceanography, and meteorology; he earned a degree in meteorology, a Ph.D., and a postdoctoral qualification in oceanography. Meteorology and oceanography were formative for my scientific career. The interaction between the atmosphere and the oceans is a major driver of natural climate fluctuations. During his doctoral studies, he focused on the El Niño phenomenon, the strongest short-term natural climate fluctuation, which originates in the equatorial Pacific. Over the past decade, his research has also focused on the mid-latitudes—such as fluctuations in the Gulf Stream—and global warming.