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Draft:Alexander Giesche

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alexander Giesche (born 1982 in Munich) is a German theatre director and performance artist. He describes many of his stage works as "visual poems"; they combine theatre and performance art with installation-based, visual and digital techniques.[1][2] His production Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän at the Schauspielhaus Zürich was selected for the 2020 Berliner Theatertreffen and received the Nestroy Theatre Prize; Giesche received the 3sat Prize for the production. In 2021, the Swiss Federal Office of Culture named the work a "Swiss Theatre Production 2020".[3][4][5][6]

Biography and career

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Giesche studied applied theatre studies at the University of Giessen, graduating in 2011. He subsequently studied at DasArts in Amsterdam, now DAS Theatre at the Academy of Theatre and Dance.[7][8]

In 2009, he and media artist Lea Letzel developed the video performance Record of Time. The work was shown at the Munich Kammerspiele in 2010 and received the inaugural Young Theatre Critics' Award at the Körber Studio Junge Regie in 2011.[9][10]

From 2012 to 2014, Giesche was an artist-in-residence at Theater Bremen, where his productions included Der perfekte Mensch (2013) and Lost (2014).[11][12] Der perfekte Mensch was selected for the 2015 Radikal jung festival at the Münchner Volkstheater.[13]

From 2015 to 2017, Giesche worked at the Munich Kammerspiele with GIESCHEand, a group that he co-founded and artistically directed, on the project cycle Future Shock. The German Federal Cultural Foundation supported the cycle through its Doppelpass fund.[14] The cycle comprised Yesterday You Said Tomorrow, Normcore,[15] 8 ½ Millionen and the concluding project Das Internet. It examined technologies that were beginning to enter everyday life and the relationship between digital technology and the human need for contact.[16][17] In 2018, New Beginnings followed at the same theatre: a 64-hour performance in a peep-show arrangement with twelve individual booths. Around 50 participants developed more than 150 miniature scenes for the work.[18]

White Out – Begegnungen am Ende der Welt, created at Lucerne Theatre, was selected for the 2018 Swiss Theatertreffen.[19] From the 2019–20 to the 2023–24 season, Giesche was one of the resident directors at the Schauspielhaus Zürich.[20][21] There he directed Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän, based on Max Frisch (2020), AFTERHOUR (2021), Momo, based on Michael Ende (2022), and Moise und die Welt der Vernunft, based on Tennessee Williams (2024).[22][23][24] In 2023, he returned to Theater Bremen for Verbundensein, based on Kae Tempest.[25] In 2024, he created Die Angestellten, based on the novel by Olga Ravn, at the Volkstheater Vienna.[26]

In April 2024, Swiss Radio and Television reported that Giesche had cancelled his upcoming theatre commitments and was withdrawing from theatre work for the time being.[2]

Artistic practice and reception

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Giesche describes many of his image-, sound- and space-oriented theatre works as "visual poems". They often dispense with a linear plot, instead using images, colour, music and textual fragments to create associative fields and atmospheric stage environments. Light, sound, video, objects, bodies, language and performers function as distinct compositional elements.[2][27] Recurring subjects include digitality, modern technology, time, and the shared physical presence of audiences and performers.[16][1][22] Theatre critic Benno Schirrmeister described the visual poem as a form that Giesche developed during his time in Bremen and distinguished it from conventional stage adaptations of narrative works.[25] In a review of The Cloud, part of X Firmen at the Theater der Welt festival, the critic highlighted how a subject from working life was transformed into a poetic theatrical image.[28]

Writing in Die Zeit, Tobi Müller called Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän "perhaps the best theatre production about the climate crisis".[29] On nachtkritik.de, Valeria Heintges described the production as a spatially expansive experience that at times exerted a trance-like pull, and praised the interaction between staging and performers; she also found its prologue and epilogue dramaturgically unconvincing.[30] In their review of New Beginnings for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Christiane Lutz and Egbert Tholl praised its format, staging and technology but criticised its limited thematic depth.[18] Pesl highlighted the interaction of light, colour, sound and digital imagery in Die Angestellten,[26] while Thomas Kramar, writing in Die Presse, criticised its length and limited dramatic development.[31]

Selected productions and projects

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  • 2009: Record of Time, with Lea Letzel[9]
  • 2010: Black or White, with Lina Hermsdorf, Georg-Büchner-Saal, Giessen[32]
  • 2013: Der perfekte Mensch, Theater Bremen[11]
  • 2013: Mein angstfreier Raum, with Caroline Fries, produced by Theater Bremen[33]
  • 2014: Lost, Theater Bremen[12]
  • 2014: The Cloud, installation as part of X Firmen at Theater der Welt in Walldorf[28]
  • 2015: World of Reason, Theater Bremen[34]
  • 2015: Yesterday You Said Tomorrow, Munich Kammerspiele[16]
  • 2016: Normcore, Munich Kammerspiele[15]
  • 2016: Torture the Artist, Theater Bremen and Werder Bremen[35]
  • 2016: 8 ½ Millionen, Munich Kammerspiele[16]
  • 2017: White Out – Begegnungen am Ende der Welt, Lucerne Theatre[19]
  • 2017: Das Internet, Munich Kammerspiele[16]
  • 2018: Superposition, Theater Bremen[36]
  • 2018: New Beginnings, Munich Kammerspiele[18]
  • 2020: Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän, Schauspielhaus Zürich[3]
  • 2021: AFTERHOUR, Schauspielhaus Zürich[22]
  • 2022: Momo, Schauspielhaus Zürich[23]
  • 2023: Verbundensein, Theater Bremen[25]
  • 2024: Die Angestellten, Volkstheater Vienna[26]
  • 2024: Moise und die Welt der Vernunft, Schauspielhaus Zürich[24]

Awards and festival selections

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  • 2011: Young Theatre Critics' Award at Körber Studio Junge Regie for Record of Time, jointly with Lea Letzel[10]
  • 2014 and 2016: listed in the "Emerging Director of the Year" category in the critics' poll conducted by the magazine Theater heute[1]
  • 2015: selection for Radikal jung with Der perfekte Mensch[13]
  • 2018: selection for the Swiss Theatertreffen with White Out – Begegnungen am Ende der Welt[19]
  • 2020: selection for the Berliner Theatertreffen with Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän[3]
  • 2020: 3sat Prize for Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän[4]
  • 2020: Nestroy Theatre Prize for Best Production in the German-speaking Region for Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän[5]
  • 2021: Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän selected for the panorama of the Swiss Theatertreffen[37]
  • 2021: named "Swiss Theatre Production 2020" at the Swiss Performing Arts Awards for Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän[6]
  • 2024: Giesche's production of Verbundensein was shortlisted for the 2024 Theatertreffen.[38]
  • 2025: Giesche's production of Moise und die Welt der Vernunft was shortlisted for the 2025 Theatertreffen.[39]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Alexander Giesche". Berliner Festspiele (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Klaeui, Andreas (17 April 2024). "Der Popstar der Theaterszene sagt «Goodbye»". SRF (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän". Berliner Festspiele (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 "3sat-Preis beim Theatertreffen Berlin". 3sat Pressetreff (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Nestroy-Preisträger*innen 2020" (PDF). Nestroy Theatre Prize (in German). 4 October 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Schweizer Preise Darstellende Künste 2021" (PDF). Swiss Culture Awards, Federal Office of Culture (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  7. ↑ "Alexander Giesche". Academy of Theatre and Dance. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Schirrmeister, Benno (10 May 2013). "„Vollkommenheit gibt's nur im Tod"". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 "record of time". Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, University of Giessen (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  10. 1 2 Behrendt, Barbara (4 April 2011). "Das Theater von morgen". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Alexander Giesche". Theater Bremen (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 Koopmann, Jan-Paul (27 May 2014). "Wir sind die Anderen". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  13. 1 2 Ricklefs, Sven (22 April 2015). "Starker Theater-Nachwuchs". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "Giesche, Alexander". nachtkritik.de (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Normcore". Munich Kammerspiele. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "Future Shock". German Federal Cultural Foundation (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "Zwischen virtuell und wirklich". Abendzeitung München (in German). 28 March 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  18. 1 2 3 Lutz, Christiane; Tholl, Egbert (10 June 2018). "64-Stunden-Peepshow". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  19. 1 2 3 "Luzerner Theater erstmals bei Schweizer Theatertreffen". zentralplus (in German). 28 February 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "Spielzeit 2019/20" (PDF). Schauspielhaus Zürich (in German). 5 June 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  21. ↑ "Spielzeit 2023/24" (PDF). Schauspielhaus Zürich (in German). 31 May 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  22. 1 2 3 "Alexander Giesche". Schauspielhaus Zürich (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  23. 1 2 Lutz, Christiane (13 February 2022). "Momo am Schauspielhaus Zürich". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  24. 1 2 Jacobi, Martina (20 April 2024). "Tennessee Williams: Moise und die Welt der Vernunft". Die Deutsche Bühne (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  25. 1 2 3 Schirrmeister, Benno (6 May 2023). "Verbundensein ist fast ein Witz". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  26. 1 2 3 Pesl, Martin Thomas (29 January 2024). "Kunstwerk aus Licht, Farbe, Klang und Virtualität". Der Freitag (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  27. ↑ Staab, Anna (2021). "Ordnungen im Nebel: Alexander Giesches Inszenierung von Max Frischs Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän am Schauspielhaus Zürich (2020)" (PDF). literatur für leser:innen (in German). 44 (1): 67–86. doi:10.3726/lfl.2021.01.05. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  28. 1 2 "X Firmen – Theater der Welt führt ins Reich des Softwareunternehmens SAP in Walldorf". nachtkritik.de (in German). 3 June 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  29. ↑ Müller, Tobi (9 February 2021). "„Noch nie war ich so heiß auf Proben"". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  30. ↑ Heintges, Valeria (23 January 2020). "Im Rutsch mit der Natur". nachtkritik.de (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  31. ↑ Kramar, Thomas (27 January 2024). "Es ist fad im 22. Jahrhundert: Enttäuschung im Volkstheater". Die Presse (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  32. ↑ "Black or White". Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, University of Giessen. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  33. ↑ "Festivalmagazin 2013" (PDF). SPIELART Festival München (in German). 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  34. ↑ Bruggaier, Johannes (15 March 2015). "Kein Licht im Tunnel der Vernunft". Kreiszeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  35. ↑ "Theater Bremen: „Torture the Artist"". Theaterkompass (in German). 8 June 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  36. ↑ Fischer, Jens (12 January 2018). "Kein Gedicht, dieses Gedicht". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  37. ↑ ""Man in the Holocene" / Alexander Giesche". Swiss Culture Awards, Federal Office of Culture. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  38. ↑ "The 2024 Shortlisted Productions". Berliner Festspiele. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  39. ↑ "The 2025 Shortlisted Productions". Berliner Festspiele. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
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