Become a member of the Gessnerallee association!

Dear visitors to Gessnerallee, dear artists

Since its founding more than 35 years ago, Gessnerallee has been one of the most important cultural institutions for the independent scene in Switzerland. To ensure that it remains a beautiful, exciting place for dance, theatre, performance and music in the future, we need your participation.

Are you a regular visitor and enjoy the artistic programme? Or are you enthusiastic about Gessnerallee and would like to support it? Then we would be delighted if you would become a member of the Theaterhaus Gessnerallee association.

Membership gives you the opportunity to get involved and enjoy great benefits. To register or ask questions, simply send an email to our colleague Shelagh Armit: info@gessnerallee.ch.

If you would like to find out more about what makes the Gessnerallee special and learn more about the Gessnerallee's goals for the coming years, please refer to the articles ‘Step by step to 2028’ and ‘Interim review of the artistic director's tenure’.

Why you should become a member

With your curiosity and loyalty, you contribute to the development and continued existence of this beautiful and lively cultural institution. 

As a member of the association, you are an important voice in the organisation of the house. The more members and the more diverse the voices, the more sustainable Gessnerallee will be. 

Your vote counts at the general meeting. You have a say in appointments to the board or approve relevant documents such as the bylaws or the mission statement. 

Your vote also counts at the Resonanzraum. Here you can discuss the direction of the theatre, the further development of the association and cultural policy and artistic issues directly with the board, the theatre management and other friends of Gessnerallee. 

With your membership fee, you support the theatre not only ideologically, but also financially. You contribute to advancing our mission and making the artistic programme even more radiant.

The benefits of your membership

• You can purchase a discounted annual pass.

• You will receive invitations to specific events - such as programme presentations, special formats and drinks receptions.

• You will be invited to exclusive exchange formats with the board and the theatre directors.

• You will receive the printed Gessnerallee newspaper four times a year free of charge and sent directly to your home. To all issues

• You can take part in the annual general meeting and elect board members as well as vote on strategic issues. 

The cost of your annual membership fee

• Regular: CHF 50

• Patrons (incl. companies): CHF 250

• Members t., TanzLOBBY IG Tanz Zürich, Danse Suisse, SBKV, Team Gessnerallee: CHF 20

If we have aroused your interest, we look forward to hearing from you by e-mail to our colleague Shelagh Armit at: info@gessnerallee.ch.

Now for the weekly overview of the programme, newspaper articles, news and everything we want to share with you:

Programme

15 October, 5.30 pm

‘Upheaval as a space for art – voices from Syria and Serbia’, artasfoundation

Artistic creation in crisis areas faces challenging questions. In this series of talks, various actors come together to reflect on their experiences. This time with Abdullah Alkafri (Ettijahat – Independent Culture) and Milan Vračar (Kulturanova). More information

17 October, 9 pm

‘Robertson Head Music Machine’ with Claudia Bühler, Stephen Thomas, Heinz Rohrer, the weathereye

Country blues from this and other centuries. A concert with guitars, vocals and percussion instruments – and with Gessnerallee sound engineer Stephen Thomas. More information

19 October, 3 pm

Children's concert with ‘Cachita’

Musician Cachita sends a clear message with clever and quick-witted lyrics, combining Afrobeat with modern funk and soul elements. Tickets

5 November, 7.30 pm

‘A thousand billion in responsibility – the balancing act between pensions and a world to live in. A contradiction?’ by WAV research collective and ‘Tsüri.ch’

The new series of talks at Gessnerallee in cooperation with editorial teams: once a month, an editorial team selects a key journalistic topic and shares it live with the audience. This time, the topic is how our pension fund investments affect us. Tickets

7 and 8 November, 8 pm

Songs of the Wayfarer by Claire Cunningham

In her new solo performance, the Scottish performer and choreographer explores what it means to wander and to attempt to scale great heights. One of the UK's most important disabled artists is coming to Zurich. Tickets

You can find an overview of the 2025/26 programme on our website.

Newspaper

The first issue of our newspaper featured three articles offering an in-depth insight into the Gessnerallee and its work.

«Das Theater war das Leben, das Leben war Theater»

For a quarter of a century André Donzé and Küde Brun worked as technicians at Gessnerallee. On their retirement, they look back and tell us what interested them even more than the technology: what happens on stage. To the article (only in German)

Step by step into the year 2028

Since the 2024/25 season Kathrin Veser and Miriam Walther have been managing Gessnerallee. Their vision and goals for the theatre. To the article

Aesthetics of Access - Exploring Artistic Accessibility

One focus of Gessnerallee's curatorial and dramaturgical work over the next four years will be Aesthetics of Access (‘Aesthetics of Accessibility’). Art that offers disabled and deaf/hard of hearing visitors the same aesthetic experience as non-disabled, hearing audiences. To the article

Have we sparked your interest in becoming a member of our association? Then we look forward to receiving your email to our colleague Shelagh Armit at: info@gessnerallee.ch.

We thank you in advance for your support and look forward to seeing you soon at an event on Gessnerallee.

The Gessnerallee team