Centre for figure theatre located in Stuttgart, Germany. Stuttgart was already, in the 1960s, home to many puppet theatre companies performing at various locations. Founded in 1983, the FITS Figurentheater Stuttgart was the first performance venue dedicated to puppetry in Germany. In the same year at the Stuttgart Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (State School of Music and Performing Arts), a new course and major in the study of Figurentheater (Figure Theatre) was created, the Studiengang Figurentheater. By the year 2000, graduates of this programme provided nearly two-thirds of all puppeteers for German theatre companies. These two institutions – the FITS and the FITZ! – were significantly shaped by the Stuttgarter puppeteer Albrecht Roser.

The FITZ! Zentrum für Figurentheater presents shows of regional, national and international theatres. In addition to the children’s programme, the FITZ! established in 1994 a regular evening programme for adults that quickly became a pillar of the theatre. The variety of performances at the FITZ! is large, ranging from puppet, material and object theatre to multimedia shows. The FITZ! increasingly also supports projects that it considers promising. This involvement has been rewarded with numerous prizes at drama competitions, with scholarships and with invitations to national and international festivals.

The Internationale Festwoche des Figurentheaters (International Week of Figure Theatre) organized by the FITZ! since 1989 showcases the diversity of this innovative art.

(See Germany.)