Meet the Play On! Management Team

Find out more about the staff, their roles, and how to contact them.

Project LeaderDirk Neldner

Born in Hamburg, he has worked as a cultural manager for various theaters and cultural organizations.

Since 1999, Dirk has initiated and directed numerous major international theatre projects with the support of various EU funds: European Schoolyard Stories (1999-2000), Kinderspiel – Sydney (2001), Magic Net (2001-2008), Platform Shift (2009-2018), Documents of Poverty and Hope (2014-2016).

Dirk Neldner designed the national Kleist Year (dedicated to the famous German poet Heinrich von Kleist) for the city of Frankfurt (Oder) in 2008-10. From 2010 to 2015 he was Managing Director of the Distel, the political satire theatre on Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse.

Current projects are PlayOn! and ConnectUp. ConnectUp establishes an international cultural initiative for the target group 12+ in order to counteract the process of increasing social and cultural division across Europe.

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Literary AdviserOdette Bereska

Theatre studies at Humboldt University, Berlin (GDR). Six years developing scripts for movies and moderating a programme for children and youth in TV. 1991 – 2005 chief literary manager of the biggest theatre for a young audience in Germany (carrousel Theater an der Parkaue in Berlin). As part of the Artistic Leadership renewing the theatre after the German reunification. Starting to work also as a playwright (mainly adaptation of novels for different age groups) and as a director (often in combination of professional puppetry and acting). Freelance working since 2005, mainly as a director in Germany and Norway.
From 1999 on one of the three initiators of EU-funded theatre projects like European Schoolyard Stories, Magic Net, PLATFORM 11+, Boomerang and PLATFORM shift+ and ConnectUp.

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Project CoordinatorSven Laude

During the last year of secondary school he started performing in a youth theatre group in the city theatre of the small town he was born in. He graduated from University as an actor and later as cultural manager.
For more than 15 years he has been working as project co-ordinator, tour and stage manager for several international theatre networks and productions. He also worked in a Berlin-based theatre company specialising in political comedy theatre as a director and educator with young comedians.

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Executive Director of VAT Teater, PlayOn!'s leading organisationTiina Rebane

Tiina Rebane is the executive director of VAT Teater since 1994. She is one of the founding members of the theatre in 1987. She has worked as an actress and director (also done many works in radio theatre).

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Artistic AssistanceJohanna Malchow

Johanna Malchow, based in Berlin, is an actress and has a punk-cabaret-band. She finished her studies of Acting, Theatre and Cultural Theorie in 2009. The same year she started working with the management team. Since then she has been part of various projects and is very happy to continue working for PlayOn!

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CommunicationsLucy Hammond

Project Producer for Pilot Theatre. Her projects have included several immersive plays and experiences including A Restless Place in some eighteenth century cells, a gig with John Foxx in a Cold War Bunker and the interactive theatre show Traitor, directed by Esther Richardson and Cecilie Lundsholt, where audiences broke into a building after dark. Lucy has also presented and hosted at several conferences including Culture 24: Let’s Get Real, The Immersive Storytelling Symposium at Liverpool John Moores University, Sharing is Caring: Shared Experiences in Mixed Reality panel at Tribeca Film Festival, the BFI Film Academy and PLATFORM shift+ Creative Forums in Tallinn and Budapest. As Creative Producer and Director, Lucy’s most recent project, also called Traitor (adapted from the play) combines, virtual reality, film and a live actor. The piece recently premiered in competition at Tribeca Film Festival 2019.

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CommunicationsSam Johnson

Sam is the Digital Officer at Pilot Theatre, York (UK), and part of the Communications team for PlayOn!. In his role at Pilot he focuses on the creation and sharing of content across digital platforms, including social media and websites, as well as educational resources.
He graduated from the University of York in 2011 with an MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture, then worked as freelance researcher in the UK’s heritage sector before joining Pilot Theatre in 2014, just in time to take part in the EU-funded four year project PLATFORM shift+ (2014 – 2018).

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Our Network

Contact us
VAT Teater MTÜ
National Library Theatre Hall
Tõnismägi 2 (location)
10122 TallinnEstland

Mail address: Endla 3, 10122 Tallinn

VAT No. EE 100 744 512
(+372) 6 450 959
(+372) 6 307 272
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