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If you do not speak or understand German, there are more than 200 performances every day in theatres or concert houses to see. Some venues have surtitles and there are many international artists and groups, festivals and tours in a range of languages.
Photo: Komische Oper Berlin
Surtitles
Many theatres regularly have performances with English surtitles. The Maxim Gorki Theatre provides English surtitles in all of its performances as a matter of course, the Schaubühne Berlin offers surtitles on selected performances each month in English or French. The Deutsche Theater Berlin, the Berliner Ensemble andthe Ballhaus Naunystraße both present some performances with English surtitles as does the Deutsche Oper, the HAU Hebbel am Ufer and in summer, the open air stage of the Monbijou Theatre.
In the Komischen Oper every seat is equipped with a screen on which the libretto for every production is available in German, English, French and Turkish.
Photo: Gerald Wesolowski
Plays in English
The independent English Theatre presents performances exclusively in English. From concerts to comedy shows and dance performances, a wide variety of offers from the international English-speaking Berlin theatre and music scene is presented.
Use our language filter in the Schedule to get an overview of the theatres with performances in English or with surtitles.
Concerts, dance and shows
Alongside spoken theatre you can also find many productions in the schedule that function totally without language. You can enjoy the new circus shows in the Chamäleon Theatre or the spectaculars in the Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin with no particular knowledge of German. We only mention dance and music, which of course function beyond language, for the sake of completeness. Use also the filter in the Schedule with the keywords ‘dance’, ‘concert’, 'show". Regular dance performances take place in the HAU Hebbel am Ufer, the Sophiensælen, the Ballhaus Ost or the Uferstudios.
International touring productions and festivals
Many venues outside of the repertory theatres produce festivals with international touring productions throughout the year. These are usually translated into German and / or English as the productions take place in their original language. It is therefore often worth taking a look at the festival page.