Christian Bertram (director)

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Christian Bertram (2005)

Christian Bertram (born May 7, 1952 in Berlin ) is a German director, gallery owner, author and organizer of art and cultural projects.

Life

Bertram grew up in Berlin and after graduating from high school, studied German, theater studies and history at the Free University of Berlin. In 1979 he completed his studies there with one of the first scientific papers on the playwright Heiner Müller .

Beginnings

Bertram was already active as an artist during his school days and studies. In 1976 he made his debut with his first production of Bertolt Brecht's Der Brotladen in the then new Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin-Kreuzberg. In the following years he realized other theater productions based on the playing traditions of the Italian Commedia dell'arte or the biomechanical movement theater of the Russian theater pioneer Meyerhold for the Berliner Festwochen (Der marvelous Hahnrei, Comédie Molière 1977). Together with Wolfgang Storch, he directed a performance of doomsday in Berlin by Lothar Trolle . These scenes at the end of the war in 1945 were played by children and young people in the railway area of ​​the Berlin Gleisdreieck in 1979 and filmed as a small television play in 1980.

World premieres by Beckett, Celan, Corneille and Robert Walser

In 1981/82 Bertram developed the double production of Samuel Beckett's Mercier and Camier and Ohio Impromptu as a work in progress . Both productions were selected for the Theatertreffen Berlin in 1982 as one of the ten most notable theater works in the German-speaking region and have enjoyed numerous guest performances at home and abroad with the actors Otto Sander and Peter Fitz over the course of 20 years.

In 1992 he showed a new translation of the German premiere of the tragedy Medea by the French playwright Pierre Corneille , including at the Schlosstheater Potsdam. In 1999/2000 he worked with the author Rolf Hochhuth on his production of Wessis in Weimar at the Schlosspark-Theater Berlin. 2001 saw the world premiere of a scenic project around the poet Paul Celan : ZIW, that light. Theater of voices, memory of the future . In 2002 Bertram realized a series of events lasting several months with texts from the Enlightenment for the great Prince Heinrich exhibition in the Rheinsberg Palace and Theater of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation. In 2005 he staged micrograms with a German-Swiss ensemble - the small world theater with scenes and texts by the poet Robert Walser . The world premiere in Berlin, supported by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin and the ProHelvetia cultural foundation, was shown in Switzerland at the Third Herisau Robert Walser Summer 2006 and at the Robert Walser Festival in the Court Theater in Copenhagen.

Event series "Medium Taut"

Between 2008 and 2010, Bertram and the dramaturge Simone Bernet realized the Medium Taut program series for the opening of Max Taut's auditorium in Berlin-Lichtenberg, which was rebuilt by the architect Max Dudler . They understood the multifunctional event location, a monument of classical modernism, as a media resonance space and developed new forms of art communication there over two years, alternating between theater, performances, themed days and the Lichtenbergs Twelve cultural salon . A total of 40 interdisciplinary events were held. In the Taut auditorium, Bertram staged the world premieres of Pierre Klossowski - Lebendes Geld (2008) and Clarel - American Palestine. A journey in the Holy Land by Herman Melville (2009/2010) based on the first translation of the verse epic by Rainer G. Schmidt .

Radio and television productions

In other works, Bertram experimented with the media of film, television and radio. Mercier and Camier was recorded in the studio for television under his direction in 1982. In 1983 he shot a portrait of the Polish actress Krystyna Janda for WDR . For the radio, he staged a number of so-called radio works, productions that u. a. presented demanding texts from the poetry production of the last century on the radio. In 2018, the first broadcasts of a selection from the Cantos , the main work of the American poet and avant-gardist Ezra Pound, took place as a radio play in a production of the Hessischer Rundfunk with Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

Working method

Christian Bertram's theatrical works are mostly premieres or premieres based on his own text versions, which have in common a pronounced precision in the choice of stylistic devices. They are characterized by a high level of shaping quality and faithfulness to the workmanship. For his productions he forms specially oriented ensembles, working with numerous well-known actors, artists and musicians. Often Bertram's work is accompanied by lectures and publications on questions of art philosophy or his own readings and performance events, such as B. at exhibitions of the Vienna Secession (Pierre Klossowski: The legend of Baphomet) and the Kunsthalle Wien (Torture - a baroque reading of the world). He is a recognized expert on the work of the artist, writer and philosopher Pierre Klossowski, with whom he was friends. In 1980, Bertram and Henriette Beese (†) founded the non-profit association Mahagonny - Theater Kunst Kulturarbeit Berlin . Since March 2016 he has been running the BERNET BERTRAM gallery for contemporary and modern art in Berlin-Charlottenburg, where he a. a. Works by artists such as Rolf Behm, Mathias Wild, Marcello Mercado, Lindy Annis, Jürgen Holtz and Carlos Silva are presented.

Theater productions (selection)

UA = world premiere; DEA = German premiere

  • 2009/10 - Clarel - American Palestine | Reise im Heiligen Land (WP) by Herman Melville in the Max-Taut-Aula, Berlin
  • 2008 - Pierre Klossowski - Living Money (WP) in the Max-Taut-Aula, Berlin
  • 2005 - robert walser mikrogramme das kleine welttheater (premiere) in the rehearsal stage Cuvrystrasse Berlin with guest performances in Switzerland and Denmark
  • 2002 - Prince Heinrich - One Life. Stations - Pictures - Texts (WP) by Christian Bertram in the Schlosstheater Rheinsberg
  • 2000/2010 - Paul Celan - Ziw, that light. Venue of Voices, Memory of the Future (WP). Staatsbank Berlin, Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin a. a.
  • 1995 - Michel Foucault - Theatrum Philosophicum (UA). Spiel.Art Festival Action Forum Praterinsel, Munich
  • 1992 - Medea by Pierre Corneille (DEA). German by Christian Bertram and Francois Pescatore in the Kulturbrauerei Berlin, the Kunsthaus Tacheles and at the Schlosstheater Potsdam, Sanssouci
  • 1982 - Ohio Impromtu (DEA) by Samuel Beckett at the Schaubühne on Lehniner Platz
  • 1981 - Mercier and Camier. Report of a trip by Samuel Beckett (UA) to the Freie Volksbühne Berlin as part of the Theatertreffen Berlin 1981.
  • 1979 - Doomsday in Berlin by Lothar Trolle (WP). Scenes at the end of the war in 1945, played by students in Gleisdreieck, Berlin. Co-director with Wolfgang Storch
  • 1977 - The Gorgeous Cuckold by Fernand Crommelynck. Zan-Pollo-Theater Berlin on behalf of the Berliner Festwochen in the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, the Akademie der Künste and the Schaubühne am Halleschen Tor
  • 1977 - The conquest of Christian Bertram (UA). A Commedia dell Arte style game. Zan Pollo Theater Berlin in the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
  • 1976 - The bread shop. Fragments - attempts by Bertolt Brecht. West Berlin premiere. Theater centrifuge in the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, the Schaubühne on Halleschen Ufer. Numerous guest appearances at home and abroad

Filmography

P = production; R = director; D = script

  • 1983 - Krystyna Janda - A star from Poland , WDR (P, R, D)
  • 1982 - Mercier and Camier by Samuel Beckett. Studio recording of the theater performance, Sender Free Berlin (R, D)
  • 1980 - Doomsday in Berlin - Scenes at the end of the war by Lothar Trolle; (R, D together with Wolfgang Storch); Small television game ZDF.

Radio productions

US = original shipment; R = director; A = selection; B = processing

  • 2018 - Cantos by Ezra Pound , Hessischer Rundfunk with Deutschlandfunk Kultur (US, R, A, B)
  • 1992 - Worstward Ho - Towards the worst by Samuel Beckett, SFB (US, R)
  • 1990 - The Adventurous Heart by Ernst Jünger , SFB (US, R, A, B)
  • 1987 - Destroyed - The wedding of Herodias / A throw of the dice by Stéphane Mallarmé , SFB (US, R, A, B)
  • 1986 - Dictation - Five Duinese Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke , SFB (US, R, A, B)
  • 1986 - Haute Surveillance - Under the supervision of Jean Genet , SFB, 68 min. Second broadcast 9/3/2016, HR (US, R, B)
  • 1985 - Through the Panama Canal by Malcolm Lowry , SFB (US, R, A, B)
  • 1984 - The man in the hallway by Marguerite Duras , SFB (US, R, B)
  • 1983 - Fairy Tales - Fairy Tales by EE Cummings , SFB (US, R, A, B)

Staged readings and performances (selection)

  • 1993 - Paul Celan - In One . Berliner Ensemble, foyer.
  • 1995 - Pierre Klossowski - The legend of the Baphomet at the exhibition Anima , Vienna Secession.
  • 1995 - Samuel Beckett - Stirrings Still (Still not anymore) | Mirlitonnades (flute tones) . Gallery Springer, Berlin.
  • 1999 - Voyage by Heart - Reference to Herman Melville . With Robert Rutman. Juliette's Literature Salon, Berlin.
  • 1999 - Francis Ponge - Electricity . At the Merve Verlag congress “More Light” in Saarbrücken.
  • 2001 - Samuel Beckett - Badly seen badly said (sometimes vu times dit) . With Barbara Stanek, Berlin.
  • 2001 - Torture. A baroque reading of the world . Event series for the exhibition A baroque party. Moments of world theater in contemporary art , Kunsthalle Wien.
  • 2005 - Robert Walser - The walk . With Lena Stolze, rehearsal stage Cuvrystraße, Berlin.
  • 2008 - Architectural manifestos of the 1920s | Bertolt Brecht - From the Fatzer fragment . With Reinmar Henschke (piano), "Medium Taut" series of events, Berlin.
  • 2008 - Pierre Klossowski - The Immortal Boy (L'Adolescent immortel) . "Medium Taut", Berlin.

Translations

  • Medea (Médée-tragédie, 1635), from the French by Pierre Corneille
  • The Immortal Boy (L'Adolescent immortel), from the French by Pierre Klossowski

Publications and lectures (selection)

  • Painted Paradise . About the painting by the Chinese artist Zhao Mengjun. In: celesQue, Lifestyle-Magazin, NOBLE one, Berlin (ed.), 2019
  • Les coffres en marche - On more recent works by Rolf Behm . Introductory text in the catalog Rolf Behm - Die Koffer , Galerie Bernet Bertram, Berlin (ed.), 2016
  • Max Taut and the New Building. Guided tour and lecture in the Max-Taut-Schule and the Taut-Aula in Berlin-Lichtenberg, on behalf of the Museum Lichtenberg, December 3, 2015
  • Logicity of Pathos. Gestures of self-design in Friedrich Nietzsche . In: Simone Bernet (Ed.): Dedicated to Kant Nietzsche. A virtual encounter. Kulturverlag Kadmos, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86599-007-5 .
  • Pierre Klossowski - a sign of homage and desire. Lecture at the Museum Ludwig. Cologne 2007.
  • The silence of the gaze. In: Udo Gößwald, Folke Hanfeld (ed.): Lichtung. The photographic collection of the Neukölln Museum . ISBN 978-3-9809348-1-7 .
  • Master of Metamorphoses. Lecture at the Fridericianum Kassel for the exhibition 50 Jahre / Years documenta 1955–2005. 2005.
  • For example Bartleby - Herman Melville, Thinking The Suffering . In: Heinze, Kupke, Kurth (Ed.): The measure of suffering. Verlag Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-8260-2400-1 .
  • Bridge lines . Nanaé Suzuki and Folke Hanfeld in the house on Lützowplatz, Berlin, August 2001. Press release from Christian Bertram
  • L'Effet c'est moi - Radiant heroes, sublime criminals . Baroque figures in Pierre Corneille's Theater of Illusion; Catalog contribution to the exhibition A baroque party - moments of world theater in contemporary art. Kunsthalle Wien, 2001, ISBN 3-85247-030-7 .
  • In the realm of colors. In: Bignia Corradini, work 1996-2000. G + H Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-931768-51-1 . www.bigniacorradini.ch
  • The return of the image - Pierre Klossowski, theologian, magician, alchemist. In: Pierre Klossowski - Anima. Catalog contribution to the exhibition of the Vienna Secession, Stroemfeld Basel / Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 3-87877-510-5 .
  • Camera in supervision . About the film Der Riese by Michael Klier. In: film review. 9/1983.
  • Machine Morte or the unleashed madness . To Heiner Müller's play Die Hamletmaschine. In: spectaculum. 33, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1980, ISBN 3-518-09104-2 .
  • In order without order . About Heiner Müller's play The Order, Memory of a Revolution. In: Theater Today. 3/1980.

Award

Invitation to the Theatertreffen Berlin 1982 with the performances of Samuel Beckett's Mercier and Camier and Ohio Impromptu

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From the image to the test field. Heiner Müller's dramaturgical drafts in the 1970s. Free University of Berlin, Department of German Studies, July 15, 1979.
  2. ↑ Christian Bertram: The bread shop . In: Material Brecht - Contradictions 1968–1976. Brochure on the occasion of the 4th Congress of the International Brecht Society, Austin, Texas 1976, Ed. Wolfgang Storch.
  3. ↑ Arno Paul: The all too natural misfortune, The "centrifuge" plays the "bread shop". In: Theater Today. 4/1976.
  4. ↑ Genia Schulz / Hans Thies Lehmann: Children's theater in the end of the world , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, November 9, 1979, p. 27.
  5. ^ Ulrich Eckhardt, Börries v. Liebermann (Ed.): 25 years of Theatertreffen 1964–1988 ; a book from the Berliner Festspiele. Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-87024-124-1 .
  6. ↑ Michael Zajonz: geometry and society. Classic of New Building: Max Taut's school building on Nöldnerplatz opens today . In: Der Tagesspiegel, September 21, 2008
  7. ↑ Robert Walser's typical characters. In: Appenzeller Tagblatt. July 14, 2006; Micrograms in Herisau. In: Appenzeller Zeitung . July 12, 2006.
  8. ↑ Program sheet of the series of events of the Kunsthalle Wien for the exhibition "A baroque party", September 12-16, 2001
  9. ↑ Chronicle of the Schaubühne ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schaubuehne.de
  10. ↑ Stefan Fischer: Irdisches Paradies , Süddeutsche Zeitung, June 27, 2018
  11. ^ Norbert Schachtsiek-Freitag: Complex recitation , media correspondence, July 26, 2018
  12. ↑ Dietmar Dath: The noise is getting more and more precise , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 27, 2018
  13. ^ Eva-Maria Lenz: Extreme Emotionen , Evangelischer Pressedienst Medien, July 13, 2018
  14. ↑ Chronicle of the Berliner Festspiele ( Memento of the original from March 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.berlinerfestspiele.de
personal data
SURNAME Bertram, Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German director, author and organizer of art and cultural projects
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin