Peter Stein

For the cinematographer, see Peter Stein (cinematographer). For the legal scholar, see Peter Stein (legal scholar).
Peter Stein (right) and Dmitry Medvedev

Peter Stein (born October 1, 1937) is a critically acclaimed German theatre and opera director who established himself at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, a company that he brought to the forefront of German theatre.[1]

Born in Berlin, Stein grew up in an era defined by the Nazis. His father Herbert Stein was factory director of Alfred Teves, a motorcycle manufacturing firm that the Nazi regime employed to make automotive parts. Herbert was in charge of 250,000 forced laborers. He was also involved in the Confessing Church, a resistance group.

Stein has said that these events had a profound effect on his life. After the war, his father was sentenced to two years of forced labor for collaborating with the Nazis. Peter's academic performance nose-dived and he barely made it into Frankfurt University. He then moved to Munich and enrolled at university there, pursuing a PhD thesis on the works of E. T. A. Hoffmann.

Having been curious about the theatre since his time at Frankfurt, he became a stagehand in Munich and eventually earned other parts. Proving himself, he was hired as director for Saved by Edward Bond. This piece threw him into the limelight and was critically acclaimed. Politically driven, Stein went on to direct many politically charged pieces, including Vietnam-Discourse by Peter Weiss, Bond's Early Morning, Seán O'Casey's Cock-a-Doodle Dandy, The Changeling by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley and Goethe's Torquato Tasso.

The theatre where Stein originally worked in West Berlin was the Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer.

In 1970, Stein was selected by politicians in Berlin to take over the Schaubühne, running it as an egalitarian socialist democracy.

After the end of his relationship with his partner Jutta Lampe in 1985, Stein left the Schaubühne.

Stein has also directed operas, such as Rheingold in Paris 1976 (conducted by Georg Solti), Otello for the Welsh National Opera in 1987, or Moses und Aron for the Salzburg Festival 1996 (conducted by Pierre Boulez). In 2011, Stein directed a new production of Verdi's Macbeth for the Salzburg Festival, with Riccardo Muti conducting, and in 2013 he directed Verdi's Don Carlos in Salzburg. He was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in 2008.[2] He is married to Italian actress Maddalena Crippa.[3]

Major productions

Saved by Edward Bond (its West German première), adapted by Martin Sperr, at the Werkraumtheater der Kammerspiele in Munich. Opened on 15 April 1967 with Michael König as Len, Jutta Schwarz as Pam, and Christian Doermer as Fred. Jürgen Rose designed the sets and costumes and Ivan Nagel was the dramaturg.[4]
Intrigue and Love by Friedrich Schiller at the Bremer Theater in Bremen. Opened on 7 November 1967 with Michael König as Ferdinand, Edith Clever as Luise, Jutta Lampe as Lady Milford, Kurt Hübner as the President, and Bruno Ganz as Wurm. Scenic design by Jürgen Rose.[4]
In the Jungle of Cities by Bertolt Brecht at the Werkraumtheater der Kammerspiele in Munich. Opened on 9 March 1968 with Hans Korte as Shlink, Bruno Ganz as Garga, Edith Clever as Marie, and Dieter Laser as Wurm. Music by Peter Fischer and scenic design by Karl-Ernst Herrmann.[4]
Vietnam-Discourse by Peter Weiss, co-directed with Wolfgang Schwiedrzik, at the Werkraumtheater der Kammerspiele in Munich. Opened on 5 July 1968 with Wolfgang Neuss as the Compère. Music by Peter Fischer and scenic design by F. Lechenperg-Recker.[4]
Torquato Tasso by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Early Morning by Edward Bond
The Changeling by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley
The Mother by Bertolt Brecht
Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
Optimistic Tragedy by Vsevolod Vishnevsky
Antikenprojekt I
Summerfolk by Maxim Gorky
As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Oresteia by Aeschylus
The Blacks by Jean Genet
Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Pelléas et Mélisande by Debussy; Welsh National Opera 1992; conductor Pierre Boulez
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Faust I & II by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Simon Boccanegra by Giuseppe Verdi (in Osterfestspiele Salzburg)
The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
Blackbird by David Harrower
Medea by Euripides
Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare) and Mazeppa (Tchaikovsky/Burenin)
Electra by Sophocles
Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles; Salzburg Festival 2010; with Klaus Maria Brandauer as Oedipus
Macbeth by Verdi; Salzburg Festival 2011; conductor Riccardo Muti
Don Carlos by Verdi; Salzburg Festival 2013; conductor Antonio Pappano

Le prix Martin from Eugène Labiche Odéon theatre of europe, Paris

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peter Stein (theatre director).

Notes

  1. ↑ Patterson (1981, xiii).
  2. ↑ XIV Edition – Prize winners Europe Theatre Prize
  3. ↑ Enrico Lancia, Roberto Poppi. Dizionario del cinema italiano, Le Attrici. Gremese Editore, 2003. ISBN 888440214X.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Patterson (1981, 172).

Sources

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