Concept

HELIOS Theater is an independent theatre company with a children's theatre house in the city of Hamm. It was founded by artists in Cologne in 1989 and moved to Hamm in Westfalia in 1997. The "Kulturbahnhof", opened in 2004, is the place where the ensemble works as a theatre (see also: History of the Theatre House). New performances are created and presented to audiences of all ages here. The theatre’s repertoire currently contains 9 productions, 3 of them for the very young.

Annually 1-2 new productions are developed. Barbara Kölling, stage director and artistic director of the theatre, as well as Michael Lurse, actor and director, have shaped the work of the theatre for years. In close cooperation with the interdisciplinary performers, topics are worked on, narrations are dramatized and explorations of material are developed into drama.

While theatre FOR children and young people plays an important role at the HELIOS Theater, projects WITH children and teenagers expand the repertoire and focus on different topics. Thus the venue has become a gathering place for art lovers of every age.

Two theatre pedagogues offer projects and workshops in the children's and youth ensembles, in which they work on the basics of theatre and develop and play their own productions.

With the contact to other countries, HELIOS Theater has built up friendships with other theatres which lead to several international cooperations. 

In their collaboration 2014, HELIOS Theater and Teatr Atofri from Poland created two different and yet related productions: SPUREN/Slady (both titles are translated into English as “Traces”) for audiences aged 2 years and up.

In 2016, Our House was created, a co-production with Ishyo Arts Centre from Kigali/Rwanda, . The ensemble of 3 German and 3 Rwandese performers created a play about memory, working along the motive of the house. “Our House”, a play for everybody 12+, was perfomed in Germany, Ruanda, France and was invited to the ASSITEJ World Congress in Cape Town/South Africa in 2017. In the same year, It was honoured with the award at “WESTWIND”, the annual gathering of Theatres for Young Audiences in NRW.

There is also longterm cooperation with the Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust from Delhi/India. The co-production planned for spring of 2020 sadly had to take place digitally due to Covid. However two plays for Kids were created in the Process: Curtain Up! in Germany and The Monster of Tilapur in India.

In continuous cooperation with the secondary schools in Hamm, HELIOS Theater creates performances with students, workshops for teachers and discussions.

Since 2005, the HELIOS Theater organizes the biannual school theatre meeting "APPLAUS". It gives schools the chance to present their theatre work on a professional stage, invites the audiences to talks with the young performers and serves as a platform for cultural and educational policy.