Welcome to the 3rd edition of our guest performance series Play!

After the huge success of the first two editions, we are thrilled to continue this journey and share a wide range of circus perspectives with you. From 22 January to 22 February 2026, nine companies will present their own unique visions of contemporary circus, accompanied by a rich supporting programme – including introductory talks and artist Q&As, panel discussions, and audience hosts. Let’s play!

Pre-sale has started.
Tickets from 26 €.

The 2026 edition of PLAY is made possible with funding from

Accompanying program for PLAY

Our Play program presents nine distinct perspectives in contemporary circus – and we want to open up spaces for our audience where impressions can resonate, conversations can arise, and personal responses can become visible.

Our accompanying program Play With Us aims to strengthen the connection between the audience, the artists, and us as hosts. It expands Play with formats that enable reflection, exchange, and creative participation. It offers easily accessible opportunities to deepen, share, and individually process the experience.

Play With Us focuses on closeness, resonance, and participation: every audience member will have the opportunity to leave their own mark and become part of a polyphonic experience. We hope this will create a lively togetherness around the Play program that extends far beyond the stage.

• Play Cards

Welcome to your personal interactive moment! At every performance guests will receive a postcard from us with questions that have been specifically developed for each production and are intended as inspiration or stimulation. You can use it to write down your thoughts, feelings, ideas, or small creative contributions. Or you can discuss them with other guests or with us!

You can either drop the postcard into our mailbox in the foyer, as a personal message that will only be seen inside the theatre, or pin it to the Play Wall in the foyer if you want your message to become part of a visible, collective work of art. Both options are possible – you decide which path your thoughts should take.

With the notes, colored pencils, stickers, ribbons, and adhesive dots that are available in the foyer, you can create more messages – write, draw, or attach symbols. All materials are intended for you to freely and playfully express your impressions of the evening.

Hang your messages on the Play Wall, create small collages, or mark special moments—everything you contribute will become part of the lively, collaborative work of art that is this Play 2026.

Have fun, get involved — let’s play!

• Play Wall

Welcome to the Play Wall — a growing, collaborative artwork for Play 2026. In the foyer, you will find small materials and prompts that you can use to leave your mark: the Play Cards, words, thoughts, mini drawings, symbols, or associations related to the evening you have just experienced.

Help design a piece of the Play Wall and become part of a living, collective exchange that will emerge throughout the series. Every voice counts, every contribution changes the whole.

Let’s play! Be part of it!

• Show accompanying workshop on Glorious Bodies

You have seen Glorious Bodies and would like to engage with the experience in a new and deeper way? Well, we’ve created a special offer for you as part of “Play with us.”

This unique workshop offers the opportunity to be an active participant in PLAY – and you don’t need any prior experience in circus or performance. Inspired by the powerful and touching performance Glorious Bodies by Circumstances, participants will creatively explore topics like aging, their own bodies, and its capabilities. What does aging feel like? What changes do we perceive? Which powers remain? What new ones emerge? Are there fears and uncertainties? Or perhaps does something calm and encouraging emerge in the process of aging?

Through movement exercises, partner work and creative prompts, participants will approach these questions and reflect, in a playful way, how personal experiences with aging can be expressed. The workshop invites you to experience, reflect on, and physically embody the essence of the piece – a space to make the aging process tangible in all its facets.

Facilitator: Anika Lachnitt (Director, Theater academic and teacher)

For whom?
Anyone over the age of 18 who is interested in exploring the themes of aging, the body and the perception of abilities in a playful and active way. No physical prerequisites are necessary!

When:
Thursday, January 29, from 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM

Participation is free. The main language is German, but questions can be asked in English as well.

Registration:
Please send a message to tickets@chamaeleonberlin.com. Limited spots will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please note that the venue is unfortunately only accessible by stairs. Feel free to contact us with your accessibility needs, and we will provide advice and find solutions wherever possible.

• Panel discussions

After the performance, we invite the audience to reflect on what they have seen and get to know the artists. In a moderated discussion, the content of the play is explored in greater depth and questions are posed to both the artists and the audience.

The discussions last approximately 40 minutes and are held in German and English.

Glorious Bodies: Saturday, 24 January 2026, 8:00 pm Panel discussion and Artist Q&A

Palianytsia: Saturday, 21 February 2026, 8:00 pm Panel discussion and Artist Q&A

• Shows in German Sign Language

Glorious Bodies: Thursday, 22 January, 2026, 8:00 pm The entrance and introduction will be interpreted in German Sign Language. The play Glorious Bodies is nonverbal.

OMÂ: Thursday, 19 February 2026, 8:00 pm Performance with DGS and mobile hearing loops. All moments of the production that use spoken language are translated, as well as the entrance and greeting. Please register for the mobile hearing loops until February 13, 2026.

• Show with audio description

HIER SOWIE DORT: Sunday, 08 February 2026, 6:00 pm Live audio description (in German) and tactile guidance. Please register until February 1, 2026.

Thanks to Anika Lachnitt for the concept of Play With Us.

The 2026 edition of PLAY is made possible with funding from