"All the City’s a Stage"

“PAF could become for the performing arts what the Berlinale is today for film and Transmediale for digital art. Anyone who takes part in it right now can later say that they were there right at the start something new, something great.”
“Stars and Kieze” (“Starts and Neighborhoods), by Tom Mustroph (additional contribution by Friedhelm Teicke), zitty 23/2017 

“In more than 60 different performance venues, Berlin’s independent performing arts community, which is the largest in the world, presented over 120 productions – poetic, political and humorous. (...) The diversity of Berlin’s independent performing arts community was reflected in the diversity of ways that its artists and performance venues presented themselves during the festival.”
Arte Journal, June 16, 2017

“A schedule of programming of the superlative ( …) a highlight of the Performing Arts Festival and one production of many that take a clear political position. Questions regarding one’s own role as a performer is a second thematic focus that was explored consistently by the events within the schedule of programming. What can I bring about? Who am I? And who the hell is watching me while I try to find an answer to these questions? These are the three big question marks of the festival.” FAZIT by Gerd Brendel on Deutschlandfunk Kultur, June 14, 2017

“The basic thought here, in a somewhat simplified manner, is that everyone can take part. Everyone in Berlin working professionally within the performing arts has the unique opportunity during nearly one-week festival to present themselves within a framework where even the most remote performance venues receive significantly more audience members than is normally the case during regular business in the bustling metropolis. The Performing Arts Festival is a huge industry showcase of the independent performing arts community.” “Die ganze Stadt ist eine Bühne” (“All the City’s a Stage“) by Katharina Granzin, in: taz - die tageszeitung, June 16, 2017

"Because there’s no real curator or jury or any organizing principle, the Performing Arts Festival is a good reflection of anything and everything going on in Berlin’s free scene. Based on the programme, here’s what we know about the free scene today: It doesn’t care about genre: Call it “have it your way!” neoliberalism or call it a necessary response to changing times: you can’t put together a theater festival these days without concerts, theme parties, panels, keynotes and art installations. What’s music and what’s stage? What’s immersive theater and what’s installation art? The Performing Arts Festival is too cool to care."
„Free Scene free-for-all“ von Lily Kelting, in: Exberliner, 06/2017

 “Heiner Müller’s on the phone and says: ‘Now the theater must discover what the role of theater is. (…) The theater must die if one is not able to direct the eyes to the process,' he says. And you think to yourself that nothing could better describe what the theater of independent performing arts community is actually working toward these days. It’s the second Performing Arts Festival, which emerged a year ago from the more narrowly conceived 100 Grad Berlin festival and now not only takes place at the four relevant venues (...) but instead bubbles up from nearly sixty performance venues, some of which still wait to be discovered, all over the city." “Kostbar brodeln die Prozesse” (“The Processes Bubble Up Deliciously") by Doris Meierhenrich, in: Berliner Zeitung, June 17, 2017