Klaus van den Berg is a theatre historian, professional dramaturg, and urban scenographer based in Atlanta. After studying music and theatre in Berlin and at Indiana University (PhD), he taught theatre for over two decades, most recently at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. His research centers on scenography in performance, spectacle in contemporary society, and performance venues in urban landscapes. Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s pioneering work in urban studies, his book-in-progress, Performing Cities: Staging the Urban Imaginary, presents a performative analysis of global cities ranging from the arcades and boulevards of Paris to the recent restaging of New York’s Times Square. An experienced director and the long-time Resident Dramaturg at the Clarence Brown Theatre (a LORT Regional Theatre) in Knoxville, TN, he has worked at national and international theatres including American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco), New Jersey Shakespeare Theatre (Madison, NJ), Westport Country Playhouse (Westport, CT), and Asolo Conservatory Theatre (Sarasota, FLA), International Theatre (Rochester, NY), 7Stages (Atlanta) and English Theatre (Berlin). His credits include the US premieres of George Tabori’s "My Mother’s Courage," "Mein Kampf," and "The Brecht File;" his innovative translation and adaptation of Schiller’s eighteenth-century classic The Robbers, was produced professionally at the Asolo Conservatory in Sarasota. He is currently promoting holistic and arts-oriented urban development in the Atlanta metro (see Blog)