Theater Hora

Theater HORA was established in 1993 in Zürich (Switzerland) by the theater-pedagogue Michael Elber. Its intention is to support and promote the creative and artistic development of people with learning disabilities, and to give them the opportunity to exhibit their extraordinary abilities to a wide audience, at a professional level.

Theater HORA endeavours to offer the actresses and actors surroundings that allow both professional acting and the development of other artistic activities, e,g. visual and figurative creations, costume and mask making, music etc. It is essential that they can express themselves as ‘genuine’ individuals.
The first HORA production evolved freely out of Michael Ende's novel “Momo”; the figure of Master Hora in this work gave the theater its name. Since then, Theater HORA has presented about fifty theater productions of all kinds (also with guest directors and choreographers since 1998). In addition, it has organized art exhibitions, music projects (the HORA'BAND exists since 2005), and international theater festivals. Theater HORA became part of the Züriwerk foundation in 2003. To this day it is the only cultural workshop for people with learning disabilities working at a professional level in Switzerland. Since 2009 the theater offers people with learning difficulties a state-recognized theatrical training program.

Among the most important of the group's past productions are: Lennie und George (1997), a free interpretation of John Steinbeck's “Of Mice and Men”; the fashion show "Drehum: La Mode Folie" (1998); an adaption of “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, with the title "All The World Is A Stage" (1999); the total theater 3D (2002), inspired by Dante, Dalí and Disney; "Amanzi" (2005), together with cultural workers from Zimbabwe; "Faust 1+2" (2008), created in ten rehearsal days; the musical "Quasimodo Geniti" (2009); and the first piece of the training program "Die Geschichte vom Baum" (2010). However, at the heart of Theater HORA's artistic self-image remains the freely-improvised "Die Lust am Scheitern" (created in 2000) – a theater evening open in all directions, in which the HORA actors together with musicians from Beat Fäh's theater project “Blauzone” work together on stage.

HORA believes that people with learning disabilities possess unique talents and creativity enabling them to make an important cultural and social contribution to our society. It is the aim of all the activities of HORA Theater to establish this view in the public opinion.