There are four theatres in Osnabrück - each with its own focus in its repertoire. Osnabrück Theatre is the largest theatre with two venues (Theater am Dom and Emma Theater an der Lotter Straße). The five sections include opera, operetta, musicals, dance, drama, children's and youth theatre and concerts, with Ulrich Mokrusch as artistic director, Andreas Hotz as general music director and Matthias Köhn as commercial director.

The puppet theatre is one of the few puppet theatres in Germany with its own theatre. The Probebühne and the Erste unordentliche Zimmertheater are amateur theatres that also have a firm place in Osnabrück's cultural life. And then there are the changing venues - also in the countryside and in unusual places!