Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi and Daniel Wetzel studied at the Institut für Angewandte Theaterwissenschaft in Giessen and work together (in various combinations) under the name of Rimini Protokoll. They are recognized as being among the leaders and creators of the theatre movement known as ›Reality Trend‹ (Theater der Zeit), which has exerted a powerful influence on the alternative theatre scene. Each project begins with a concrete situation in a specific place and is then developed through an intense exploratory process. They have attracted international attention with their dramatic works, which take place in that grey zone between reality and fiction. Since 2000, Rimini Protokoll has brought its ›theatre of experts‹ to the stage and into city spaces, interpreted by non-professional actors who are called ›experts‹ for that very reason. Since 2003 Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi und Daniel Wetzel are artists in residence at Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) Berlin. Among others, the three have created Shooting Bourbaki (Haug/Kaegi/Wetzel), which won the NRW-Impulse Prize in 2003 (the same year the ›Theater‹ magazine yearbook called them the most promising young directors of the year); Deadline (Haug/Kaegi/Wetzel), presented in the Berlin Theatre Encounters in 2004; Schwarzenbergplatz (Haug/Kaegi/Wetzel), nominated in Austria for the Nestroy Prize for Theatre, and Wallenstein (Haug/Wetzel), performed in the Theatre Encounters in 2006.

Their extremely topical piece, Mnemopark (Kaegi), won the Jury Prize at the Politik im freien Theater (Politics in Free Theatre) Festival, while ›Karl Marx: Das Kapital. Erster Band‹ won the Mülheimer Dramatiker Prize in 2007. Haug, Kaegi and Wetzel were awarded the German DER FAUST prize for theatre in 2007 and the European Theatre Prize in Thessaloniki in the category New Realities in 2008. ›Call Cutta in a box‹ won a Honorary Mention by the Prix Ars Electronica 09 (International Competition for Cyber Arts) in the category Interactive Art.