Flinn Works always works in different, often transnational teams. We have a long-standing working relationship with many of our colleagues. The core team currently consists of Sophia Stepf, Lisa Stepf, Konradin Kunze, Marit Buchmeier and Lisanne Grotz.
Artistic Director
- SOPHIA STEPF
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR
Sophia Stepf (Berlin) is a theatre maker, dramaturg, curator and facilitator. She is the artistic director of the company Flinn Works (Berlin). Since 2010 she has been producing and directing research based transnational performances with a focus on feminist and postcolonial topics. With Flinn Works, she has been awarded META awards in Delhi (2014), the ZKB patronage prize at Zürcher Theater Spektakel (2014), the George Tabori Award (2021) and the prize of the International Theatre Institute Germany (2023). Since 2003 Sophia has been developing & facilitating theatre projects and training programs, mainly for the Goethe-Institut India. As a dramaturg and curator she has worked with international theatre festivals (Theater der Welt 2005, Vienna Festwochen 2007 & Theaterfestival Schwindelfrei 2014-2018). She facilitates workshops on devising performance, dramaturgy, feedback and feminist leadership in the arts. She lives with her family in Berlin.
Team
- LISA STEPF
PERFORMER, CELLIST, DRAMATURG
Lisa Stepf studied cultural studies in Hildesheim, Lüneburg, and Aix-en-Provence. She received a fellowship from Körber-Foundation (Masterclass on Music Education) and from the EU pilot project SPACE for young curators. She lives in Switzerland and works as theatre practitioner, cellist and curator. She is member of the interdisciplinary string quartet Quartett PLUS 1 and of Flinn Works. As a curator she has worked for Radialsystem V (from 2006 to 2009) and the performing arts festival Schwindelfrei in Mannheim. She has developed New Concert Formats for Radialsystem V, Ensemble Resonanz, Philharmonie Luxemburg, Argovia Philharmonic and Zürcher Kammerorchester. Lisa teaches at Musikakademie Basel and Hochschule der Künste Bern.
- ANDI OTTO
ELECTRONIC MUSIC COMPOSER, MUSICIAN
Andi Otto is a Hamburg-based sound artist, composer and performer. His work centres on the exploration of experimental human-machine interfaces in electronic music: As an artist, he performs with his self-developed sensor bow "Fello", which transforms his cello bow into a gestural sound device. He also builds interactive sound installations and creates real-time sound design settings for dance and theatre performances. As an academic, he has researched the pioneering role of sensor instruments developed at STEIM in Amsterdam in the 1980s. His dissertation "Dutch Touch" is going to be published by Goldsmiths Press. Andi Otto is a lecturer in the Sound Arts department at the HKB in Bern and co-founder of the record label Pingipung, where he releases music by artists such as Anadol, Umeko Ando and Marie Klock. He has released six solo albums on international labels, tours worldwide and performs in duo projects with MD Pallavi and F.S.Blumm. He has worked with Flinn Works as a composer since 2012.
- KONRADIN KUNZE
Performer, writer, exhibition maker, researcher
Konradin Kunze works as a director, performer, exhibition creator and researcher. After studying acting at the Hanover University of Music and Drama, he was a member of the ensemble at Theater Bremen and Junges Schauspielhaus Hamburg. He has directed and devised plays at various theatres in Germany. He also works as an animation filmmaker and, together with Berlin Postkolonial, campaigns for the return of looted cultural belongings and ancestral remains that were abducted during the colonial era. Since 2011 he develops with Flinn Works research-based transnational theatre projects such as his solo performance "Skull X", recently "White Money" and "Ultimate Safari" as well as exhibitions, including the mobile research exhibition "Marejesho" in Tanzania and Germany. He lives with his family in Berlin.
- SONATA
PERFORMER
Sonata aka Debarati Guha was born in Kolkata, her parents are from Bangladesh. She has been living in Germany since 2005. She completed her Masters and M.Phil. in Political Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) and worked as an Assistant to the Asia Correspondent of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in New Delhi. Later she completed a training program in online, radio and television journalism at Deutsche Welle and has been heading DW's Bengali Service since 2013 and is currently deputy director of the Asia Programme. In her other life she follows her passion for politics and theatre with Flinn Works. She researched for and performs in Songs of the T-Shirt, Global Belly and Global Belly_Zoom.
- SUSANA ALONSO
LIGHT DESIGN & TECHNICIAL DIRECTOR
Susana Alonso studied fine arts at Barcelona and finished her studies at Universität der Künste in Berlin. She did a master in pedagogy of art in the Department of painting of the University of Barcelona and another Master of photography at EFTI, Madrid. In Spain she has worked in the Department of Light at the Opera of Valencia, as well as being responsible for lights in the main theater of Burgos, creating light designs for festivals like the Festival Open Scene, Burgos - New York Choreography Festival or Castilla Folk among others. In Germany she has been working as a freelancer since 2011, in theatres such as the Podewill, Uferstudios or Sophiensaele in Berlin. She has design lights and worked as a technical director for festivals like TUSCH, Tanzzeit, KookMono and others. She has collaborated and continues to work together with artists like Marina Tenorio, Alienor Dauchez, Cora Frost, Vincent Bozek, BigNotwendigkeit, Flinn Works, Mette Ingsvarsten, Jefta van Dinther, Thiago Granato.
- LEA DIETRICH
STAGE & COSTUME
Lea Dietrich studierte Kommunikationsdesign in Bremen, Hamburg und Marseille. Sie arbeitet als Bühnen- und Kostümbildnerin in den Sparten Schauspiel, Performance und Tanz und entwarf Bühnen u.a. am DT Göttingen, Theater Bremen, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, an der Bayrische Staatsoper München, dem Staatstheater Hannover, Staatstheater Dresden, Theater Freiburg und für die Ruhrfestspiele. Lea Dietrich arbeitete u.a. mit Felix Rothenhäusler, Babett Grube, Antje Thoms, Konradin Kunze, der Werkgruppe2, DIN A13 Tanzcompany, der Choreografin Birgit Freitag und Flinn Works. Darüber hinaus ist sie als freischaffende Künstlerin und Fotografin tätig und lebt mit ihren zwei Kindern in Göttingen.
- JÜRGEN SALZMANN
VIDEO DESIGN
Jürgen Salzmann ist Videokünstler, Regisseur und Performer. Vor seinem Studium der Angewandten Kulturwissenschaften mit Schwerpunkt Film und Theater studierte er Biologie mit Fokus Verhaltensforschung. Seine Tätigkeitsfelder reichen von Off-Theater über Live Art bis hin zu Tanzproduktionen und Operninszenierungen. Jürgen Salzmann lebt in Berlin und arbeitet sowohl im deutschsprachigen Raum (Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg / Din A 13, Köln / angelhaus-production, Zürich u.a.) als auch in internationalen Produktionen (Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lissabon / Mamuta Project, Jerusalem, Syn Athina, Athen u.a.) Im Zentrum seiner Arbeit steht der künstlerische Austausch im offenen Dialog, beispielsweise in Projekten mit geflüchteten Menschen oder mit Zeitzeug*innen deutscher Geschichte. Er ist Gründungsmitglied der Live Art- und Performancekollektive cultura und Stockholm Syndrom. Seine Erfahrung gibt er in Seminaren und Workshops an Studierende und Lehrende weiter, beispielsweise an der Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig und der Universität der Künste Berlin UdK. Mit Flinn Works ist er seit 2016 verbunden.
- TATJANA KAUTSCH
COSTUME
Tatjana Kautsch studierte Kostüm- und Bühnenbild von 2004-2012 an der FH Hannover, an der Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart und an der Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee. Seit 2009 ist sie freischaffend tätig. Sie verbindet eine enge Zusammenarbeit mit Flinn Works, Ramin Anaraki und Olivier Keller. Tatjana Kautsch lebt mit ihrer Familie in Berlin.
- MARIT BUCHMEIER, LISANNE GROTZ
xplusdrei Production Office
Xplus3 is a production office for the independent performing arts in Berlin, established in 2017 by Marit Buchmeier and Lisanne Grotz. They have taken over Flinn Works Management in 2022.
- Partners