The Thalia Theatre is one of three publicly funded theatres in Hamburg and is one of the leading dramatic theatres in the German-speaking world. It is re-positioning itself under artistic director Sonja Anders: younger, more diverse and closely linked to the city.
"All the colours", clear direction.
The idea was to make the new artistic direction and corporate design experientially tangible online while serving the complex everyday reality of a repertory theatre. The website should reflect “all the colours of this world”, but never at the expense of orientation. We designed a system that lets the playbill unfold like a dramaturgy: from seasonal campaigns to daily programme, from discovery to decision. Equally important: reducing editorial effort so the team can react quickly to current discourse and spontaneous scheduling.
Orientation by colour
The new website translates the radically colourful corporate design by Bureau Johannes Erler into a fast, intuitive and consistent digital experience. A rule-based colour system, responsive typography and clear navigation make the repertoire legible at a glance.
Modular stage, precise typography
We translated the visual identity into a modular design system: Each play receives its own colour combination in the backend, ensuring that the CI is rendered consistently and without manual tweaks. Variable typography lets titles adapt precisely to tile sizes and breakpoints, remaining legible in any context. The homepage functions as a flexible stage: modules can be re-ordered, emphasised or muted. A recurring circular motif orchestrates transitions and highlights functions such as downloads. A reduced typographic scale keeps dense content calm and readable.
A CMS built for repertoire
At the core is a robust CMS model for productions, campaigns, events and subscriptions. Editors assign colour logics and configure the start page via drag-and-drop modules. A compact “today & tomorrow” sidebar shows the next performances for spontaneous visits. An interactive subscription matrix makes complex offers such as Thalia Cards or flex passes transparent and comparable. The dark “event mode” supports digital programme booklets on mobile devices.
The website is intelligently linked to Starmate CRM and automatically supplies it via XML feed. This enables tailor-made pre-visit, after-visit, and follow-up mailings. The theater simply controls recommendations and campaign-relevant dates in the backend. The mailings clearly bundle all relevant information: venue, title, time, and direct links to the play, ticket purchase, audio introduction, and program booklet—supplemented by curated recommendations for a complete visitor experience.
From impulse to seat – seamless ticketing
Seamless integration of the TIXLY ticketing system turns inspiration into booking with minimal friction – on desktop and mobile alike. It ensures a continuous path from information to ticket purchase, including seat selection, without perceptible media breaks.
Summary
What sets the project apart is the rigorous systematising of a highly expressive identity. Instead of fixed layouts, we built rules: colours per production, responsive typography, modular dramaturgy. This allows Thalia Theater to stage itself differently for premieres, festivals or city projects without losing recognisability. The circular motion signature gives the site a poetic, theatrical quality while remaining restrained in interaction design. Complex products such as subscriptions are not hidden in PDFs, but become interactive tools. The result is both editorially powerful and audience-friendly.
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Client
Thalia Theater
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Project
www.thalia-theater.de
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Duration
7 month
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Go-Live
Summer 2025
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Team
1 Project Manager
1 UX Designer
1 UI Designer
1 Frontend Developer
1 Backend Developer
1 IT Operator -
Systemwelt
Theasoft (Distribution Software)
Tixly (Ticketing-System)
Starmate (CRM System)
Python/Django (Backend Webframework)
Nuxt (Frontend Webframework)
Elasticsearch (Onsite Search Engine)
Celery (Task-Management)
Sentry (Error Tacking)