Yana Eva Thönnes, born in Cologne in 1990, is a director, writer, and performer. She first studied philosophy and cultural studies in the Ruhr region before successfully dropping out of her studies in theatre directing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. From 2015 to 2017 she was an assistant director at Münchner Kammerspiele, where she worked with Toshiki Okada, Britta Thie, Gob Squad, Felix Rothenhäusler and Wolfgang Tillmans among others. From 2015 to 2022 she led the performance company THE AGENCY as Artistic Director together with Magdalena Emmerig, Rahel Spöhrer and Belle Santos.
Yana Eva Thönnes’ work has been shown at Münchner Kammerspiele, Theater Neumarkt Zürich, Akademie der Künste Berlin, PACT Zollverein, The Athens Biennale, Tanz im August, Festival Internacional de Buenos Aires, Bayerische Staatsoper and Radikal jung Festival. Her artistic research has taken her to Japan, India, and the United States.