Chamäleon

The Chamäleon Berlin stands in the Hackeschen Höfe, a courtyard complex in the Mitte district. The theatre occupies the former single-storey festival hall in the first floor of the cross-building between the first and second courtyards. Its entrance faces Rosenthaler Straße. The building dates from the early 20th century, when August Endell designed the colour-glazed façades and the interior of the hall for the wine merchant Wilhelm Neumann.

The Chamäleon is now a leading producer and partner for contemporary circus in Germany and abroad. Its productions such as Leo, Raven and Julieta tour internationally. The theatre also hosts residencies that give artists protected time to develop new work. In 2023 it received the federal theatre prize for private theatres, praised for dissolving old boundaries between genres and forms of operation.

Visitors enter through the first courtyard and climb to the restored Jugendstil hall. The 360-square-metre space seats about 270 with bistro tables and a balcony. The stage has a variable lift-and-rotation system, and the lighting, sound and ventilation were renewed in 2004–05. A separate studio called The Cave offers rehearsal space to freelance circus creators. Drinks and light meals can be ordered at the seats.