Productions

As a production venue, stage and creative partner, we support the development of new contemporary circus pieces and collaborate conceptually with numerous artists and companies. Our aim is to support every phase of an artistic idea’s life cycle: from free exploration and research in a safe rehearsal space, through the process of developing the actual concept via residencies, and the secure creation and production phase, right through to performance and touring.

Even beyond our own stage, we support circus practitioners and new ideas in order to do justice to the multifaceted artistic range of contemporary circus. In 2019, we produced the piece Raven in collaboration with the Berlin-based artists’ collective still hungry, followed by Show Pony in 2024. still hungry are one of the few all-female circus collectives in Germany who seek to reflect this fact in their work. Raven and Show Pony tour internationally.

We place great emphasis on high artistic quality and sustainable production in every season. Working closely with the companies, we support the planning, implementation and creative development of the works heading to our stage. Through joint consultation, existing pieces are reinterpreted in terms of both content and technical aspects and adapted to the conditions and requirements of our stage. However, the main focus of our work as a theatre and production partner lies in the development of new circus works, which are mostly conceived as co-productions and premiered in Berlin.

This holistic approach to production, combined with the guarantee of running times lasting several months – an absolute exception when compared to theatres worldwide – has made the Chamäleon one of the most significant production partners in contemporary circus. The entire concept, our ethos and our approach are based on the fundamental principle of promoting art and culture and a love of contemporary circus.

In 2025, we co-produced a new work for another German theatre for the first time. LOUDER is a cross-genre collaborative project between the Australian company Gravity & Other Myths and the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, connecting a world-class contemporary circus company with a leading orchestra with over 200 years of history. It was our first creative collaboration with the Brandenburg Theatre, for whose New Year’s Eve programme this production was created exclusively. LOUDER celebrated its Australian premiere at the Sydney Opera House in June 2026.

In order to support artists in their creative work in the long term, we are committed to establishing alternative creative structures. Due to the predominantly commercial distribution model in contemporary circus, the pressure to produce is so high that projects driven purely by artistic motivation often find neither space nor funding. As a private cultural organisation, we too only have limited resources available to support artistic projects; we therefore generously contribute our expertise, time and facilities to support artists in their creative work.

w/ (pronounced ‘with’) was founded in 2024 by the Finnish circus centre Cirko and is a network of circus organisers in Europe and the UK. The network co-produces one circus project each year and organises tours for the co-production. The network’s partners are among the leading cultural organisations in their respective regions.

At the heart of w/ lie the sharing of resources and a commitment to transparency and collaboration. The network’s aim is to become a permanent, financially, socially and environmentally sustainable co-production structure that promotes the creation and continued existence of outstanding contemporary circus works and benefits both the artists and the network partners.

Partners:
Assembly / UK
Bærum Kulturhus / Norway
Chamäleon Berlin / Germany
Cirko / Finland (first partner, since 2024)
Dansinitiativet / Sweden
Dynamo / Denmark
La Grainerie / France
Jacksons Lane / UK
Kulturhuset Stadsteatern / Sweden
Rigas Cirks / Latvia
Subtopia / Sweden

The first co-production, Yes Person by Based on Kimberly, premiered in Helsinki in January 2026.

Find out more about the network and its mission here