Leute wie die (People like that) are artists from Berlin, NRW and Frankfurt who have come together to form a performance group. They create theater experiences in both spoken and sign language.
Since 2015, Leute wie die have been working bilingually on the question of how Deaf and hearing performers can perform on stage on an equal footing, how the audience can participate, and what aesthetic and artistic images emerge from this.
Alongside continual multilingual exploration, Leute wie die set themeselves specific experiential and research goals for every production. These range from the imaginitive world of the very youngest, to the reimagining of written plays and on to in-depth thematic research.
Images, sounds and video play a special role in the plays of Leute wie. This enables a shared understanding, beyond language. In this way, the theater space becomes a space for dialogue with the audience, where time is taken to tell stories and allow the stage to explode both visually and acoustically.
Previous productions have been developed for young audiences under the direction of Wera Mahne, but open to people of all generations. Since 2020, Leute wie die have performed all productions under this new label.
Leute wie die are deaf and hearing people with varying areas of expertise. The core consists of Declan Hurley (video, stage), Pia Katharina Jendreizik (performance, sign language poet), Wera Mahne (direction, concepts) and Esther Schneider (production management).
Leute wie die are also Brice Stapelfeldt (sign language interpreter), Kathrin-Marén Enders (performance, sign language interpreting), Adriane Große (performance), Kristina Kiehn (sign language interpreting), Tümay Kılınçel (choreography, performance), Julia Kolodi (communication assistant), Luka Niedermeier (communication assistant), Andreas Pfaffenberger (puppetry, performance), Pavel Rodionov (performance, video), Regina Rösing (stage, costumes), Susanne Tod (directing) and Xenia Vitriak (sign language interpreting)
Leute wie die are members of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People, ASSITEJ, and as such have been partners in the PERSPEKTIV:WECHSEL alliance from 2022-2025.
The PERSPEKTIV:WECHSEL alliance has been an association of artists, independent theatres and ASSITEJ. Together, they want to initiate change processes so that social diversity is better reflected in children's and youth theatre in the future.
The alliance partners aim to critically question their own working methods and aesthetics. They try out new ways of achieving greater accessibility themselves. They also give all interested parties access to the insights gained from the collaboration of the independent children's and youth theatre scene by publicly sharing good practices and lessons learned.
More information about the alliance and the other partners here: Link
‘Deaf’ is a positive self-designation used by people who cannot hear, and encompasses various identities and life experiences, such as those who are deaf, hard of hearing, cochlear implant users and those who have become deaf later in life. The capitalised spelling reflects the cultural identity of many Deaf people and expresses a sense of belonging to the culture and language of the Deaf community.