Rote Rübe is a theatre collective made up of three women and four men in their twenties, who live and work together in the Munich suburb of Grünwald They are dedicated, in their own words, to producing “political theatre that is fun and that makes identification possible.” These performers, who profess a Marxist orientation came together as acting students at the Otto Falckenberg Drama School in Munich They then grew disenchanted with the conservatory system, which they have described as “a factory for the delivery of material to subsidized theatres,” and gradually worked out their own methods, techniques, and principles.

They established their independent collective in December, 1971. The collective's chief performance space is the Munich Poplokal, or rock club, Crash, which has an audience of young apprentices, working class youths, students, and local residents. To further their aim of reaching “a public drawn from the maximum variety of social strata, and above all a public that doesn't go to the traditional theatre,” they have refined their theatrical means, reducing them to a flexible minimum, so that productions can be taken to community and youth centers, public squares, and cafes.