Context
The city of Ansbach commissioned actori to carry out a strategic reorientation of the over 100-year-old Theater Ansbach, which operates under the unique legal structure of a cooperative. Since February 2024, the main auditorium, with approximately 400 seats, had been closed due to fire safety violations and structural deficiencies, which severely limited the company’s operations. Despite broad consensus on the theater’s cultural significance, key questions regarding its future direction, governance, and financing remained unresolved. In light of additional financial burdens resulting from the necessary structural renovation, the debate over municipal subsidies and the theater’s future intensified. The organizational realignment was considered a prerequisite for the subsequent implementation of the construction measures.
Approach
actori developed a two-step approach that combined analytical depth with participatory breadth. First, actori conducted a comprehensive analysis of the current situation, systematically evaluating the theater’s finances, audience demographics, and programming over the past five years. A targeted benchmarking exercise with five comparable institutions—Badische Landesbühne Bruchsal, Piccolo Theater Cottbus, Burghofbühne Dinslaken, and Zimmertheater Tübingen—assessed the efficiency and positioning of Theater Ansbach and provided important insights for optimization strategies.
At the same time, actori engaged all relevant stakeholders through 25 structured interviews, including discussions with the city administration, all political factions, the theater, and the cooperative itself, as well as with other cultural actors in the region. This participatory approach ensured that diverse perspectives were taken into account and fostered early acceptance of change processes. Building on these findings, actori developed three well-founded future scenarios: ensemble theater with in-house productions, ensemble and collaborative theater, and a guest performance program, with the latter being immediately ruled out due to cultural disadvantages. In a half-day workshop, the steering committee comprising representatives from the city and the cooperative discussed and evaluated the scenarios based on jointly developed criteria.
In addition to its strategic work, actori conducted a conceptual analysis of the structural requirements, focusing on functional improvements to the main spaces. This resulted in modular renovation recommendations, including a space allocation plan and a budget.
Impact
- A well-founded basis for decision-making regarding the future of this historic theater provides strategic clarity for all parties involved
- The extensive involvement of various stakeholders fosters broad acceptance of changes and thus participatory legitimacy
- The study also provided insights into ways to increase efficiency and strengthen cultural impact. The modular renovation recommendation, based on program requirements and realistic cost estimates, enables flexible, needs-based construction implementation.
- The concrete roadmap for next steps provides clarity on implementation while addressing parallel program and construction development tracks.
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The project was implemented by Julius Geiger, consultancy and Prof. Maurice Lausberg, founder and managing partner.