The Institute for Applied Theatre Studies (Angewandte Theaterwissenschaft, ATW) is part of the Justus Liebig University Gießen.
Influenced by Wirth and his choice of guest professors, some of the early works by students dealt with the tradition of Brecht's „Lehrstücke“, minimalist tendencies springing from the fine arts and the contemporary works of groups like The Wooster Group, Baktruppen, Needcompany and artists like Jan Fabre, John Cage and William Forsythe.
In the 1990s, the theatre studies scholar Helga Finter and the composer and director Heiner Goebbels took over the scientific and artistic leadership of the institute.
Within the context of the university but also the theater scene of the 1990s and 2000s, the reputation of the institute also was to reconsider and emphasise the unique qualities of theatre by applying poststructuralist studies and the theories of thinkers including Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Jean-François Lyotard.
Participating artists and scholars invited have included Marina Abramović, Eugenio Barba, Jérôme Bel, Herbert Blau, Claudia Bosse, Richard Foreman, Rabih Mroué, Mathilde Monnier, Patrice Pavis, Richard Schechner, Georg Seeßlen, Tino Sehgal and Samuel Weber, In 2008 the MA Choreography and Performance and a professorship for dance studies with a focal point on choreography and performance were established.
Similar to the already existing Bachelor and Master program Applied Theatre Studies, the MA Choreography and Performance offers both an academic and artistic approach, though with a particular focus on the body, its movement, its politics and economics.
For this festival, artists are invited with their works to participate in discourse and discussion; and finally the relatively young Instant-festival, which seeks to further the exchange with a program called The Scenic Arts at the University Hildesheim.
Réne Pollesch, Gob Squad, She She Pop, Rimini Protokoll, Showcase Beat Le Mot, Otmar Wagner, Thomas Martius, Jürgen Fritz, Monster Truck, Auftrag : Lorey and many more have had a lasting impact on the theatre scene with their non-hierarchical and collective methods and unique aesthetics.