Basel drama trio to lead Munich Kammerspiele from 2028/29, pending council vote

A trio chosen for Munich

The culture committee of the Munich city council agreed on Thursday, 29 October 2026, that Anja Dirks, Antú Romero Nunes and Jörg Pohl should lead the Münchner Kammerspiele jointly. They are due to take over with the 2028/29 season and would initially serve five seasons. The three succeed Barbara Mundel, who leaves the theatre at the end of the 2027/28 season. The committee followed a recommendation from culture councillor Marek Wiechers, which was based on the findings of a search commission. The full city council makes the final decision at its plenary session on 25 November 2026. Dirks, Nunes and Pohl came out ahead of numerous, well-known rivals across several rounds of voting.

The Basel team's record

Dirks, Nunes and Pohl have shared the leadership of the drama division at Theater Basel since the 2020/21 season. The model dates to the start of Benedikt von Peter's tenure as intendant in 2020, when a team replaced a single director at the top. Dirks works in Basel as a dramaturg and was responsible, among other productions, for "Cosmic Drama", "Das Narrenschiff" and "Molière - der eingebildete Tote". Nunes is a director whose Basel staging of "Ein Sommernachtstraum" was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen in 2023. Pohl is an actor who appears in several Basel productions, including "Die Physiker", "Die Ritter des Mutterkorns" and "Moby Dick - das Solo". In 2023 he received the Gertrud-Eysoldt-Ring for a double role in "Molière - der eingebildete Tote", a production Nunes directed.

Why the city chose them

Mona Fuchs, the Green second mayor who chairs the jury, explained the choice in a statement.

“Among the numerous applications, the team convinced us most with its participatory leadership model and its aim to preserve and develop the house's avant-garde and inclusive focus.”

Culture councillor Marek Wiechers praised the joint leadership, which had been "vielfach gefeiert" in Basel, and voiced confidence that the trio could widen the house's profile.

“I am sure the trio can expand and strengthen the profile of the Kammerspiele with expertise, care and new impulses.”

The trio's plans for the house

The three said in a statement that they look forward to continuing the large and inclusive ensemble tradition of the Münchner Kammerspiele. They want the house to be shaped as a "Weltstadttheater" with international perspectives, rooted locally with a cosmopolitan outlook. Their stated view of theatre is that it should be an "alternate world within the world" that is analog, sensual and physical. The Munich Kammerspiele under Mundel were named Theatre of the Year in 2026, a record the new team inherits. Mundel's tenure ends with the 2027/28 season.

Basel and what comes next

Theater Basel declined on Thursday to say anything about a successor when asked by Keystone-SDA. In a communiqué, the Basel theatre described the Munich appointment as recognition of the particular artistic working method the team had developed. The three will keep staging their productions in Basel until the end of the 2027/28 season. The Munich vote on 25 November 2026 is the final formal step before the trio takes over.