On 9 December, the 12th FührungsFrauen Westpfalz network meeting marked the festive conclusion of our network year, taking us to a very special place: the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern. Thanks to the invitation of Simone Grub, FührungsFrau and commercial director of the Pfalztheater, and the expert guidance of Tanja Hermann, business developer at the Bezirksverband Pfalz, we were given an extraordinary behind-the-scenes glimpse of this cultural heart of the region.

Jutta Metzler, member of the ZRW board and vice president of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, welcomed the numerous participants. She praised the Pfalztheater, highlighting its status as one of Kaiserslautern's most important cultural institutions and emphasising its relevance far beyond the city limits.

We then embarked on an exciting tour of the theater, which was in "fairy tale mode" for the Christmas season and Peter Pan production, sparking the imagination of many children. The tour provided fascinating insights into the theater's various departments and the collaboration of different professions, people, and nationalities. It quickly became clear that, for many employees, the Pfalztheater is more than just a workplace; it is the center of their lives and community. Challenging events, such as the water damage three years ago, have further strengthened this sense of community and demonstrated the theater's impressive team spirit.

The tour took us through nearly every department of the theater. In addition to the main auditorium, we visited the costume department, the makeup room, and the popular workshop stage due to its proximity to the actors.

The event concluded with a keynote speech addressing the representation of women and their roles in theater. It is encouraging to note that the proportion of female employees is steadily increasing. At the same time, however, it became clear that the portrayal of roles in plays, especially from the audience's perspective, is still very traditional in some cases. Until a few years ago, it was unusual to see women at the conductor's podium, and casting often had to fulfill stereotypes. Today, however, there has been a noticeable change, even with regard to supposedly "typical" gender-specific job profiles in theater.

The end-of-year event offered fascinating insights into the world of theater and provided valuable networking opportunities and inspiring conversations. We could have listened to the exciting presentations for hours, but we will definitely make up for that on another occasion.