Programme
Our vision describes the Gessnerallee as a place with great international appeal, a place for discussions, a place for artistic creations from Switzerland and abroad, a place for an artistic approach to accessibility, a workspace for the transfer of knowledge and more. To create such a place, a wide range of different high-profile and experimental formats are needed, that attract a diverse audience, as well as local and international networking.
Last year, in addition to major international guest performances, Gessnerallee presented productions, labs, workshops and showings by local artists attracting a diverse and curious audience. All the performances were well attended and mostly sold out. With the guest performances of ‘Ich bin Pinguin’ by Leute wie die, ‘PERSPECTIVES’ by Anna Chiedza Spörri and the revival of ‘COLD’ by Fatima Moumouni and Laurin Buser, and in collaboration with Schule und Kultur und Schulkultur Kindergarten and school classes were able to visit the theater. This collaboration, which was launched this season, promotes our aim of diversifying our audience by age. Here, too, we were delighted with the consistently sold-out performances.
In addition, the theatre collaborated with various festivals. As a result, the programme was enriched by diverse curatorial perspectives from different disciplines (club culture, film, experimental music, dance, opera). Besides local networking, international exchanges are important to us; in this first season these have gained momentum and will be increased in the coming years.
To change structures sustainably and long term, and to forge bonds and further develop aesthetics, there have been programmes in the areas of knowledge transfer, further education and artistic research in the past months. We had, for example, a Relaxed Performance Lab for neurodivergent artists, legal advice for artists from Arita (Association for Rights in the Arts) and a Change of Perspective workshop with Sensability and the Gessnerallee team.
Aesthetics of Access was a central focus last year - and will remain so in the coming years. The aim of this creative process is to offer disabled and deaf/hard of hearing visitors an equally aesthetic theatre experience as non-disabled, hearing audiences. Like we did in the first year, special works will continue to be selected for the guest performance programme, and artists from the local independent scene will continue to receive additional financial support for the production of their works. To ensure that what has been learnt in the field of Aesthetics of Access is not forgotten, particular attention is paid to documenting knowledge and passing on examples of good practice to artists and other institutions. To this end, the network of access consultants with lived experience will be expanded further and in our programme the discussion of Aesthetics of Access will be continued and intensified.
Communication
Since the 2024/25 season, Gessnerallee's communication strategy has, on the one hand, been based on clarity, care and recognisability - on the other hand, we want to set topics that are negotiated with the necessary prudence and promote public debate in an enriching way. The means of communication used should create access and habits and be capable of development. The aim is to appeal to a broad and diverse audience and retain them long term.
A large part of the preparatory work therefore consisted of developing a new CI/CD and designing and implementing a legible, easy-to-navigate and accessible website. It will be reviewed continuously and developed further with a focus on accessibility.
Gessnerallee has also been publishing its own newspaper since the 2024/25 season. It is published both digitally and in print, with articles in English and German. Among other things, it serves to share knowledge, name cultural policy issues and promote transparency.
Every Wednesday, the newly launched weekly newsletter provides insights into our programme, the work of the team and the artists, shares feedback from visitors and gives recommendations for a rich cultural life in Zurich and internationally. This also includes a constant presence on social networks.
Following repeated feedback during the preparation phase, one significant measure was the plan to make it clearly visible what takes place inside this long orange building. Since August, banners and window panels with the words dance, theatre, performance and music have been hanging on the long façade facing the street.
Thus, the foundations have been laid and we can now work with a stronger focus and in a closer dialogue with the artists in the area of audience development to attract specific target groups.
Conclusion
After the first intensive year of arriving(the theatre management and a third of the team), the implementation of new strategic focus areas in the programme, communication and organisation, as well as the reconstruction and stabilisation of the Stall6 gastronomy, in the second year we are aiming to focus more on the high-quality implementation of the artistic programme, on hosting, networking with the city, nationally and internationally - as well as on fundraising and cultural-political lobbying and networking.
Crucially the focus is always also on the organisation - and therefore above all on the team. As in the first year, to be able to react to the most diverse demands and circumstances in small, effective and prudent steps, we will continue the balancing act between organisational stability and continuous changeability in the coming year. The cornerstones are clarity of roles, responsibilities and work processes, as well as the constant cultivation of a culture of debate, feedback and a positive management of mistakes.
In recent months, work has also been carried out on accessibility in the building at various points. In particular, the task of providing step-free access to the first floor remains a top priority.
Last but not least, through calls for applications that explicitly address people with experience of discrimination or by promoting young talent within our staff the development of a diverse team continues.
We are very satisfied with the course we have taken and with what we have achieved so far - and are delighted with the positive feedback from the audiences, artists and the team.
To the article Step by step to the year 2028
