1996 "Art is the Motor of Every Culture" (Kunst ist der Motor jeder Kultur), in 1998 "Future Without Past" (Zukunft ohne Vergangenheit), 2001 "Courage, I say, Courage" (Mut, sag ich, Mut), 2002 "Longings and addictions" (SehnSüchte). From 1996 to 1998, the Ruhrfestspielhaus was transformed into a congress center, including the addition of an entrance hall. The remodelling was awarded the in 2001. Henry Moore's sculpture "Large Reclining Figure Number 5" (Große Liegende Nr. 5) is placed at the building's entrance. Other performing spaces were used whilst the Ruhrfestspielhaus was being remodelled, such as the Vestlandhalle, the Marl theatre, in storage halls of the Auguste Victoria mine in Marl and in the Theaterzelt (theatre tent). Frank Hoffmann has been the director since 2005. He has encouraged classic plays, such as Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm, Emilia Galotti and Nathan der Weise. In 2006, the theme was William Shakespeare with plays such as Richard II in a production of The Old Vic with Kevin Spacey and Greg Wise. The motto of 2008 was "Once Upon a Time in America ... A Dream of Theatre" (Es war einmal in Amerika ... Ein Traum vom Theater), showing works by Eugene O'Neill, Speed-the-Plow by David Mamet and Blackbird by David Harrower. The theme of 2009 was "Northern Lights" (Nordlichter), presenting plays by Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, but the festival also showed Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, both in a collaboration with the Brooklyn Academy of Music and The Old Vic. In 2010, when the region was the European Capital of Culture, the theme was "The Continent of Kleist in the Romantic Ocean" (Kontinent Kleist im romantischen Meer), which looked at the influence of dramatist and poet Heinrich von Kleist on his contemporaries and successors. The festival had 46 main productions and a total of 208 events. John Malkovich appeared in a musical version of the movie The Infernal Comedy – confessions of a serial killer by . In 2012, the Motto was "Im Osten was Neues: Von den fernen Tagen des russischen Theaters in die Zukunft", reflecting Russian theatre, with performances of plays by Pushkin, Chekhov, Tolstoi and Dostoyevski. The festival attracted some 80,000 visitors. Literature Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen GmbH (ed.): 50 Jahre Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen. Pomp, Essen 1996 Ingeborg Schnelling-Reinicke: Gründung und Entwicklung der Ruhrfestspiele in Recklinghausen. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln 1998 References External links Theatre festivals in Germany Events in North