Aslı Kışlal: New Artistic Director of the Theater of Youth!

Aslı Kışlal: New Artistic Director of the Theater of Youth!

The new artistic direction of the Theater der Jugend was announced at a press conference on June 18, 2025. Vice Chancellor and Minister of Culture Andreas Babler and City Councilor for Culture Veronica Kaup-Hasler were present to announce the decision that director Aslı Kışlal will be appointed to this position from September 2026. She succeeds Thomas Birkmeir, who has been artistic director since 2001 and will remain in office until the end of the 2025/26 season.

Babler emphasized the socio-political importance of theater for young people and highlighted the role of Kışlal, whose extensive experience and profound understanding of urban society will be crucial for the tasks and challenges ahead. Kaup-Hasler praised Kışlal's diverse artistic career and her commitment to post-migrant theater work.

Artistic career of Aslı Kışlal

Aslı Kışlal, born in Ankara in 1970, is an experienced Turkish-Austrian director, dramaturge, actress and screenwriter. She has lived in Vienna since 1990, where she studied sociology at the University of Vienna and received acting training at the Schubert Conservatory, which she completed in 1997. From 1991, Kışlal worked as an actress at the Theater der Jugend as well as in other important Viennese theaters such as the Kosmos Theater and Werk X.

In the 1990s she also lectured on the importance of art in an integrative context and was co-founder of the youth, culture and integration association echo. Her ambitious career has taken her into senior positions, including her role as artistic director of Theater des Moments from 2009 to 2010 and the founding of the performance and theater laboratory diverCITYLAB in 2013, which opens the theater scene to a post-migrant society.

Awards and commitment

Kışlal has received numerous awards and nominations, including the Mia Award 2014 and the German Musical Academy Prize 2023. She was also nominated for the Nestroy Prize 2024. Her involvement in the theater landscape extends to lectures, workshops and jury work. Among other things, she was a member of the jury for the project “kültüř gemma!” and the STELLA jury in 2020.

As co-founder of the WIENWOCHE festival, which combines art and activism, she advocates for intercultural awareness and empathy among children and young people not only in the theater but also on a socio-political level. Kışlal emphasizes the special importance of theater for the development of empathy in young people.

For the future of the Theater of Youth, Aslı Kışlal brings not only an impressive portfolio and deep cultural understanding, but also the necessary visionary spirit to further develop the traditional house for the benefit of the next generations.