André Perrottet from Laban

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André Perrottet from Laban

André Perrottet von Laban (born January 30, 1916 as Adelar Perrottet in Hombrechtikon , † February 24, 1956 in Oensingen ) was a Swiss set designer and theater building visionary. He was best known for his atmospheric stage sets and his project of a round theater with a rotating auditorium.

Life

Naming and childhood

His parents, the dancer, choreographer and movement theorist Rudolf von Laban and Suzanne Perrottet , movement teacher and trained musician, invented the name Allar for him . However, since the officials insisted on choosing an existing name when registering , his first name was entered as Adelar . However, this naming was not used outside of official documents. He remained Allar for family and friends, and from about 9 years old he called himself André in public to avoid teasing from schoolmates because of the similarity of his name to Allah . The young André learned early on what it means to be the child of two artists whose new ideas could only be realized by fully concentrating on the practice of their professions. His father returned to Germany after the end of the war in order to continue his career as a dancer and choreographer, while his mother took over the school that Laban had founded in Zurich and then built it up under the name of the School for Eurythmy . André Perrottet grew up in homes and with foster parents and later in the boarding schools in Hof Oberkirch and Glarisegg.

First steps towards the stage design

In the latter place he devoted himself passionately to carving and leading marionettes and staged performances of Goethe's Faust, which he learned on the occasion of a visit to Jakob Flach in Arcegno . As a talented draftsman, he also made the stage sets himself. After leaving boarding school (1933), his mother placed him as an apprentice to the set designer Roman Clemens, who was newly hired at the Zurich City Theater . In 1934 André Perrottet accompanied the director Hans Zimmermann from Zurich to the Bern City Theater , where he already created his first decorations independently as a volunteer ( e.g. for Die Perlenfischer ).

Perrottet met his future partner Julia von Wyss (daughter of Otto [von] Wyss ) at a ball in the Dolder Hotel in Zurich . In 1935 he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich , where the following year he received an offer to work as a set designer for the Basel City Theater . On the advice of his teacher Emil Preetorius , the only 20-year-old accepted the offer.

Stage designer at the Basel City Theater

The first season at the new place of work (1936/37) turned out to be extremely busy with 35 premieres (including Die Csardasfürstin , Die Macht des Schicksals , Lohengrin ), as did the second season (with the highlights Don Juan , The beautiful Helena and The Bartered Bride ). Perrottet mastered the demanding workload with flying colors, not least thanks to the good collaboration with the new director Gustav Hartung, who was newly engaged in 1937 . The critics attested him " atmospheric, painterly unity of the scenery " ( Basler Nachrichten ), an " outstandingly atmospheric and gripping stage design " (National-Zeitung) as well as " obviously a real talent that only needs more and more opportunities to try out " (National-Zeitung) .

Stay abroad and return to Basel

In 1938 André Perrottet took a leave of absence from the Basel City Theater and spent a year in England to take a break and learn the language. During this time he met his father several times. He also had many contacts with theater people in London. a. with Paul Czinner , with whom he began to work on a play. However, this collaboration was interrupted because Perrottet returned to Switzerland shortly before the threatened outbreak of war. Seven more seasons followed for him at the Stadttheater Basel . The Swiss dancer and choreographer Max Terpis , who was originally an architect and who was discovered by Suzanne Perrottet and inspired to change careers , also returned to Switzerland . He was hired to Basel first as a guest and later as a permanent director. André Perrottet was very happy about the many years of friendly cooperation with him. In 1940 Perrottet married Julia von Wyss and then became a father through the birth of his children Claude Antoine (1941) and Cosima (1942).

In 1944 the Swiss director Franz Schnyder took over the management of the theater in Basel. Two seasons followed with around 10 joint performances (highlight: a production by Jacobowsky and the colonel by Franz Werfel), and here, too, the collaboration with "Perro", as André was called by colleagues, was " always wonderful " ( Schnyder ). In 1946, after seven years of uninterrupted activity at the Stadttheater Basel, Perrottet wanted to "break out of the treadmill". In addition, the newly appointed theater director Kurt Horwitz let it be known that he did not attach particular importance to decoration and that he “prefers to play in front of curtains”. Together with his wife, Perrottet considered the possibility of getting by financially with guest appearances at various theaters. After drawing up a detailed budget, the decision was made and the notice of termination submitted.

Guest performances

The following years were marked by hardships, but also by a very varied activity. André Perrottet worked in film and made guest productions (including in Baden-Baden, Zurich, St. Gallen and Lucerne, as well as in 1951/52 the design of the Federal Festival in Basel, Schaffhausen and Glarus). He also came into contact with Gottlieb Duttweiler , who employed him as the organizer and developer of the clubhouse events that were beginning.

The round theater project

Shortly after the birth of his third child, Oliver (1949), André Perrottet went public for the first time with his round theater project: a revolving auditorium surrounded by a ring stage . In post-war Germany, which was destroyed, there was a great need for new buildings and renovations, including theaters. André Perrottet and his business partner, the architect Erwin Stoecklin, propagated the project on several trips and started negotiations with several city administrations. Despite the great response from experts, the public and the press, a round theater prototype was not implemented. The closest to this was the city of Krefeld, where the building contract only failed at the last minute.

Again return to Basel

When Albert Wiesner, with whom a friendship and fruitful cooperation had developed during the guest performances in Lucerne, was appointed director to Basel in 1953, André Perrottet also decided to return to the Basel City Theater again, but with Wiesner's death in 1954 the new one took over Collaboration came to an abrupt end. There was no good agreement with the new director Hermann Wedekind , who was appointed in 1955 . On January 30, 1956, his 40th birthday, Perrottet received a letter from the city theater in which he was informed that his contract would not be renewed for the coming season. He tried unsuccessfully to avert the impending dismissal. André Perrottet passed away voluntarily two weeks later. The performance of the opera Carmen on February 25th took place in his sets but without him. A large part of the estate with numerous stage and costume designs is located in the Swiss Archive of the Performing Arts (SAPA; formerly the Swiss Theater Collection ).

literature

Web links

Commons : André Perrottet von Laban  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Der Bund , Bern, November 1934
personal data
SURNAME Laban, André Perrottet from
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Perrottet, Adelar (maiden name); Perrottet, Allar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss stage designer and theater building visionary
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Hombrechtikon
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1956
Place of death Oensingen