Andreas Becker (puppeteer)

Andreas Becker (born June 21, 1974 in Munich ) is a German stage and costume designer , puppeteer , figure maker, author and director .

Life

Theater works

Andreas Becker worked for nine years in what is probably Germany's most famous puppet theater, the Augsburger Puppenkiste . During this time, in addition to his main activity as a puppeteer, he also worked as an author and director and also carved countless puppets for television productions of the theater (e.g. Lilalu in Schepperland , hocus-pocus around Lilalu ), the movie The Story of Monty Spinneratz and for various stage productions , including his own adaptation and staging of the Grimm fairy tale Tischlein deck dich .

In addition to studying stage design and costume design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart with Professor Martin Zehetgruber , he wrote as a freelance author, for example for the Schillertage in Mannheim or for the German theater publisher, where u. a. the adaptations Das Gespenst von Canterville , Cinderella , Puss in Boots , Little Red Riding Hood and Peterchens Mondfahrt have appeared. He also designed and built numerous puppets for various theaters, including for the Stuttgart State Opera and its Brundibár opera production , for which he also created the stage and costumes.

After completing his diploma thesis on Verdi's Macbeth , he designed, among other things, the equipment for the productions Popeye - Der Theatercomic , Angstblau , Zementgarten or Herz der Finsternis at the Freiburg Theater, as well as the complete puppet concept for William Shakespeare's Der Sturm , in a production by Jarg Pataki and the set for ¡Olé! The Zarzuela Show directed by Joan Anton Rechi. In the successful production Sadako , he not only created the puppets, sets and costumes, but again directed it himself.

In the 2010/11 season he was responsible for the stage design of the opera Hansel and Gretel at the Freiburg Theater and for the entire set of the fairy tale of the same name for children. The project Zwerg Nases Kochshow , in which he worked as a director in addition to the equipment and the entire puppet concept, was also created at the Freiburg Theater in the 2010/11 season.

He has been working as a freelance stage and costume designer and figure maker since mid-2010. He works at the Theater Naumburg (2011, The Name of the Rose after Umberto Eco ; 2013, Nietzsche - I am a divine Hanswurst ; Hamlet ), at the Landestheater Coburg (2012, Dracula after Bram Stoker ; 2013, María de Buenos Aires , The merry widow ; 2015, The Bird Trader ; 2016, Cschenbrödel , Lakmé ), at Theater Aachen (2011, Das Dschungelbuch ; 2012, Hansel and Gretel ; 2014, Peer Gynt , West Side Story ; 2015, Au Monde ; 2016, Fiddler on the Roof ), at Theater Altenburg / Gera (2015, Martha or Der Markt zu Richmond ), at Landestheater Innsbruck (2018, Martha ) and at Theater Münster (2019, Sugar ; 2020, Yolimba based on Wilhelm Killmayer and Tankred Dorst ).

Awards

In November 2008 he received the “Offenbacher Löwen” for Macbeth for “particularly creative achievements in the field of contemporary stage design”.

Teaching

Since 2013, Andreas Becker has been a lecturer at the Figurentheater-Kolleg Bochum for the subjects of figure making, puppetry and staging projects.

Productions (selection)

2020

• The Barber of Seville (Opera) - costumes, Nordhausen Theater
• Die Erre (n) von Chaillot (drama) - costumes, Theater Aachen
• Pique Dame (opera) - costumes, Theater Aachen

2019

• Yolimba (opera) - set design & costumes, Theater Münster
• Sugar (musical) - stage design, Theater Münster
• Cendrillon (opera) - set design & costumes, Theater Nordhausen

2018

• Romeo et Juliette (opera) - costumes, Theater Aachen
• The Merchant of Venice (drama) - stage design & costumes, Theater Aachen
• Feuervogel (ballet) - set design & costumes, Landestheater Coburg
• Martha or the market in Richmond (opera) - stage design & figures, Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck
• The robbers (drama) - costumes, Theater Aachen

2017

• La Traviata (opera) - costumes, Theater Aachen
• Submission (acting) - stage & costumes, Theater Aachen

2016

• Fiddler on the Roof (Anatevka) (Musical) - Stage & Costumes, Theater Aachen
• Der Superwurm (puppet theater) - stage design, Dornerei theater
• Lakmé (opera) - stage design, Landestheater Coburg
• Cinderella (ballet) - set design & costumes, Landestheater Coburg

2015

• Au Monde (Opera) - Costume & Masks Theater Aachen
• Der Froschkönig (puppet theater) - stage, costumes & figures, Chemnitz theater
• Martha or the market in Richmond (opera) - stage design & figures, Altenburg / Gera theater
• The bird dealer (operetta) - stage design & costumes, Landestheater Coburg

2014

• Cinderella (drama) - stage design & costumes, Theater Biel / Solothurn
• West Side Story (musical) - costumes, Theater Aachen
• Figaro's wedding (drama) - stage design, costumes & figures, Naumburg theater
• Peer Gynt (acting) - stage design & costumes, Theater Aachen
• Dangerous love affairs (ballet) - stage design & costumes, Landestheater Coburg

2013

• The Merry Widow (operetta) - stage design, Landestheater Coburg
• Puss in Boots (drama) - stage design & costumes, Theater Solothurn / Biel
• Hamlet (drama) - stage design, costumes & figures, Naumburg theater
• Maria de Buenos Aires (opera / ballet) - stage design & costumes, Landestheater Coburg
• Nietzsche - I am a divine Hanswurst (drama, world premiere) - stage design, costumes & figures, Naumburg theater

2012

• Hansel and Gretel (opera) - sets & costumes, Theater Aachen
• Dracula (ballet) - set & costumes, Landestheater Coburg

2011

• The Jungle Book (drama) - stage design & costumes, Theater Aachen
• Der Name der Rose (drama) - stage design, costumes & figures, Theater Naumburg
• Zwerg Nases Kochshow (play with characters) - direction, stage design, costumes & characters, Theater Freiburg

2010

• Hansel and Gretel (opera) - stage design, Theater Freiburg / Großes Haus
• The fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel (play) - stage design & costumes, Theater Freiburg / Großes Haus
• Heart of Darkness (drama) - stage design & costumes, Theater Freiburg / Kammerbühne

2009

• ¡Olé! The Zarzuela Show (musical, world premiere) - stage design, Theater Freiburg / Großes Haus
• The storm (drama / opera) - figure concept & puppets, Theater Freiburg / Großes Haus

2008

• Popeye - Der Theatercomic (drama) - stage design and costumes, Theater Freiburg / Kammerbühne
• The cement garden (drama) - stage design, costumes & masks, Freiburg Theater / Werkraum

2007

• Sadako (puppet theater) - direction, set design, costumes & puppets, Freiburg Theater, Werkraum
• Angstblau (drama) - stage design & costumes, Theater Freiburg, Kammerbühne

2006

• Brundibár (Opera) - stage design, costumes & puppets, State Opera Stuttgart

2002

• Tischlein deck dich (puppet theater) - directing, editing & puppets, Augsburger Puppenkiste

1998

• Rumpelstiltskin (puppet theater) - stage design, Augsburger Puppenkiste

Web links

• Andreas Becker Official Website
• Andreas Becker on the website of the Freiburg Theater
• Portrait at the Deutsches Theaterverlag
• Augsburger doll crate
• http://www.augsburger-puppenkiste.de/