Change in the festival direction

Delphine Lyner, member of the festival direction since 2013, leaves the Theater Spektakel after this edition. As the executive director and member of the programme group, she has initiated and promoted a whole series of projects in order to increase the festival’s accessibility to as many people as possible. She has greatly contributed to the development of the inclusive measures on all levels and to the festival becoming a role model example of an inclusive event. Additionally, she ensured the festival’s development on financially secure grounds with great commitment. During her term, four big construction projects - Pavillon, entrance area, Zentral stages and festival office - could be realised with the support of partners and foundations. She also intensified the collaboration with the Patrons of the Festival and is responsible for important improvements in the departments of administration, organisation and ticketing. Thanks to her efforts to digitalize those departments they are now at the state of the art. We thank Delphine Lyner for her great commitment and continuing enthusiasm she has put into the festival and its development and wish her all the best. 

Her successor to the three-member management team is the cultural manager Sarah Wendle. The 37-year old was born in Lahr/Schwarzwald. She studied history and politics at the universities of Cologne and Buenos Aires and graduated with a degree in area studies. Since 2013, she worked as editor, non-fiction programme director and finally as commercial director at the Rotpunktverlag in Zurich. From 2016 to 2018, she studied MAS Arts Management at the School of Management and Law of the ZHAW in Winterthur. Sarah Wendle, who will co-direct the Zürcher Theater Spektakel together with the artistic director Matthias von Hartz and the technical director Veit Kälin, takes office at the beginning of October 2020.