In the period from August 2022 to April 2023, 36 interviews were conducted with a total of 39 protagonists of the Düsseldorf independent scene (performing arts). The resulting 29 hours of interview material (430 pages of text) currently form the basis for the compilation into a 240-page book entitled “Die Bretter, die die Stadt bedeuten – 50 Jahre freie darstellende Künste in Düsseldorf” (The boards that mean the city – 50 years of the independent performing arts in Düsseldorf), which is to be published by Droste Verlag in Düsseldorf on the occasion of Bücherbummel 2024.
Editors and publishers are Jens Prüss and J.U. Lensing, who conducted and edited the lion’s share of the interviews, in addition to some interviews conducted by sound-design-students.
Players of the 1970s, 80s and 90s are represented with their statements as well as current protagonists of the independent scene who only became active in Düsseldorf after 2000. The book documents in various original tones a good 50 years of the independent Düsseldorf scene from its beginnings in 1973 (founding of the “Werkstatt” in Grafenberger Allee, a few ensembles and a few individual artists) to today with its three houses FFT, tanzhaus nrw and zakk and numerous ensembles and soloists active in the city.