{"id":8697,"date":"2025-08-20T16:45:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T14:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/?post_type=fit-artisti&p=8697"},"modified":"2026-09-02T15:43:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T13:43:39","slug":"boris-nikitin","status":"publish","type":"fit-artisti","link":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/en\/fit-artists\/boris-nikitin\/","title":{"rendered":"BORIS NIKITIN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boris Nikitin, born in Basel and the son of Ukrainian-Slovakian-French-Jewish immigrants, directs in the international independent scene and at German-language municipal theatres. He is the artistic director of the biennial Basel Festival for Documentary and Propagandistic Arts It’s The Real Thing \u2013 Basler Dokumentartage<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As an author, director and essayist, Nikitin has been exploring the representation and production of identity and reality since 2007. The plays seek the boundary between illusion theatre and performance, between documentary, propaganda and fake, e.g. F for Fake, after Orson Welles<\/em> (2008), Imitation of Life<\/em> (2009, at FIT in 2014), How to win friends & influence people<\/em> (2013). In the process, they sometimes completely resolve the contradiction between offensive dilettantism and artistic virtuosity, between concept and grand theatrical gesture. Time and again, the plays are rewritings of classical material, as in Woyzeck<\/em> (2007), Der zerbrochne Krug <\/em>(2010) or Hamlet<\/em> (2016, at FIT in 2017 \u2013 read more and watch the after-show talk)<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike few others, Boris Nikitin is currently leading theatre to a critical point,” writes the German professional journal Theater heute. Since 2015, Nikitin has been intensively exploring the relationship between art, illness, and vulnerability. This theme plays a central role in internationally touring productions such as Hamlet<\/em> (2016), Essay on Dying<\/em> (2019, at FIT the same year \u2013 read more and watch the after-show talk<\/span>)<\/a>, Magda Toffler<\/em> (2022), and in his first museum project The Last Reality Show <\/em>(Museum Tinguely, 2023).<\/p>\n

In 2017, Nikitin was awarded the J.M.R. Lenz \u2013 Dramatist Prize<\/strong> of the City of Jena for his complete works. In 2020, he received the Swiss Theatre Award<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

His play Essay on Dying<\/em> was selected for the Swiss Theatertreffen in 2021. His play First Season. 20 Years Big Brother<\/em> was selected for the M\u00fclheim Theatre Days as one of the seven best German-language plays of 2021.<\/p>\n

Since 2022, Nikitin has been experimenting with the form of live cinema (D\u00e4monen<\/em>, D\u00e4monen<\/em> Berlin<\/em>, Mixtape<\/em>, Kids<\/em>). His first work, D\u00e4monen<\/em>, created in collaboration with Sebastian N\u00fcbling, achieved significant critical and popular acclaim, as evidenced by recognition such as the nachtkritik Theatertreffen<\/strong> in 2023 and the 2023 Video of the Year<\/strong> award (Theater heute).<\/p>\n

< photo<\/strong> Matthias Willi<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

@ FIT<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Kids (working title)<\/span><\/a><\/em>
\n2026 Edition<\/span>
\n29 – 30.09 | 02.10 – 11.10<\/span><\/p>\n

Magda Toffler, or an Essay on Silence<\/span><\/a><\/span>
\n<\/em>2025 Edition<\/span>
\n03.10 – 12.10\u00a0
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Essay<\/u><\/span>\u00a0on Dying<\/a><\/em><\/span>
\n2019 Edition<\/span>
\n24.09 – 06.10<\/span><\/p>\n

Hamlet<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span>
\n2017 Edition<\/span>
\n28.09 – 08.10<\/span><\/p>\n

Imitation of Life<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span>
\n2014 Edition<\/span>
\n16.10 – 20.10<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boris Nikitin, born in Basel and the son of Ukrainian-Slovakian-French-Jewish immigrants, directs in the international independent scene and at German-language municipal theatres. He is the artistic director of the biennial Basel Festival for Documentary and Propagandistic Arts It’s The Real Thing \u2013 Basler Dokumentartage. As an author, director and essayist, Nikitin has been exploring the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":21614,"template":"","format":"standard","class_list":["post-8697","fit-artisti","type-fit-artisti","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fit-artisti\/8697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fit-artisti"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fit-artisti"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fit-artisti\/8697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26258,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fit-artisti\/8697\/revisions\/26258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitfestival.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}