Julika Mayer

Julika Mayer is a director, performer, and professor of contemporary puppetry at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts (HMDK) since 2011. She is also an Equal Opportunities Officer and a member of Platform RUA – Cooperative for Text and Direction in Berlin.

Education:

• École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette, Charleville-Mézières, France

Her work focuses on the intersection of puppetry with contemporary political, ecological, and social issues, emphasizing poetic translation of themes. She explores transdisciplinary practices, experimental joy, and theater as a sensual, playful space for encounter. Her productions have been staged at theaters in Chemnitz, Magdeburg, Leipzig, and Mannheim, and she collaborates internationally across France, Portugal, Mexico, Chile, Canada, Israel, the USA, and Iran.

International Teaching Engagements:

• Ernst Busch University of Art and Design (HfS), Berlin - Guest Lecturer
• DAMU Prague - Guest Lecturer
• School for Visual Theatre, Jerusalem
• Haute Ecole des Arts du Rhin (HEAR), Strasbourg
• Zurich University of the Arts (ZHDK)
• University of Tehran

Selected Productions:

• 2026 - Oh! (Director, Theater der jungen Welt, Leipzig)
• 2024 - Broken? Observatory for Fragile Objects (Concept & Direction, Puppet Theatre Chemnitz)
• 2023 - Re-member (Text & Direction, Puppet Theater Magdeburg)
• 2023 - LA CÉRÉMONIE DU POIDS (Concept/Director, TJP Strasbourg-Grand Est)
• 2023 - Resonances (Concept, Performance/Direction, Imaginale Festival, Stuttgart)
• 2020 - THING (Puppet Theatre Chemnitz)

International Festival Invitations:

• Avignon Festival
• International Puppet Theatre Festival Erlangen
• FIDENA Bochum
• FMTM Charleville-Mézières
• FIMP Porto