Christian Franke (director)

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Christian Franke (* 1983 in Naumburg / Saale ) is a German director , dramaturge and author .

Life

Christian Franke studied German literature, philosophy and applied ethics in Jena . During this period he published his first literary works and was a prize winner of the Young Literature Forum Hessen-Thuringia . After completing his studies, he worked as a dramaturgy assistant at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus and as an internship in directing (among others with Karin Henkel and Oliver Reese ) at the Schauspiel Frankfurt. Here he was a permanent assistant director and worked regularly with Jürgen Kruse , who later hired him as a dramaturge. In addition, he assisted Alice Buddeberg, Amélie Niermeyer , Philipp Preuss , Christopher Rüping and others. He also worked as a guest dramaturge at the Frankfurt Authors Theater and at the Frankfurt theater periphery. He has worked continuously with some of his employees. The stage sets are often designed by Sabine Mäder . Most of the costumes for his productions come from Raphaela Rose .

In 2015 he was invited to the Kaltstart Theater Festival in Hamburg with his production The Story of the Panda Bears . In the same year, his production A short dropout was taken over at the Münster Theater .

His first work as a playwright was the play Wut und Gedanke , which revolves around Adorno and critical theory . In July 2016, the play was invited to the Volksbühne Berlin , where following the guest performance there was a discussion with Carl Hegemann , Marcus Steinweg and Christian Franke under the title Anger and Thought / Rushed Thinking Special .

The actress Anna Polke received two awards for the role of Martha in The Third Life of Fritz Giga at the Oberhausen Theater Prize 2018 . She received the First Prize for special artistic achievement and the Audience Prize . Franke, the author and director of the play, gave the laudation.

In 2019 the Braunschweig State Theater received the Martin Linzer Theater Prize for outstanding artistic performance. In the reasoning, among other things, "the philosophical approach to Walter Benjamin in Christian Franke's project 'An Angel of History'" was honored.

Works

Anger and thought

World premiere: March 8, 2015, Schauspiel Frankfurt

"If socialism is improbable, it takes the more desperate determination to make it come true" - banners in classrooms and leaflets on campus. In January 1969, students occupy the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. The institute directors Theodor W. Adorno and Ludwig von Friedeburg have the occupation dissolved. Hans-Jürgen Krahl is shown as the only one of the students. Krahl, the "Robespierre von Bockenheim", as he is called by his comrades in the Socialist German Student Union, was not only the chief theorist of the student movement, but also Adorno's best and most promising student. With the intervention of the police, the open rift between teacher and student is inevitable.


The player: Dostoevsky

World premiere: January 16, 2017, Staatstheater Wiesbaden

In October 1866, Fyodor Dostoyevsky found himself in a seemingly hopeless situation. He has signed a desperate contract with the publisher Stellowski due to lack of money: he is to deliver him a new ten-sheet novel exclusively by November 1st, thereby paying off his gambling debts. But 26 days before the deadline, Dostoevsky has not written a single word. A professor friend of his then sends him his student Anna Grigoryevna . The young woman is not only educated, but also a gifted stenographer. Dramatic weeks follow, from which both the requested novel emerges and the poet's wedding to Anna, who is twenty-five years his junior. But even the honeymoon abroad is again an escape from the creditors. Fjodor and Anna go to the German health resorts to play roulette and also take up quarters in Wiesbaden.


CAPA! TARO

World premiere: May 17, 2017, Theaterhaus Jena

War photographer Robert Capa is a legend. It was created by the German Gerda Pohorylle and the Hungarian André Friedmann, who invented the name in order to be able to sell their photographs better. When the civil war broke out in Spain in 1936, the pair of lovers accompanied the struggles against the fascists and with the photo “The Falling Soldier”, which is still legendary today, “Robert Capa” became famous. A little later, Gerda Pohorylle, who now calls herself Gerda Taro , dies on an assignment and is posthumously stylized as an anti-fascist heroine. - And Friedmann has no choice but to continue playing the role of the daring war photographer Capa, which his lover has devised for him.


The third life of Fritz Giga

World premiere: April 20, 2018, Theater Oberhausen

Two streets in Oberhausen are named after the anti-fascist Fritz Giga. The Gestapo was very interested in him in 1934, especially in his death as soon as possible. During the battles against the Ruhr, Fritz Giga not only occupied the Oberhausen town hall with his comrades, but also fought against the Nazis after 1933 until they caught him. Contrary to the descriptions in the Gestapo files, it is SA henchmen who throw him from the third floor of the police headquarters after the brutal interrogation. The newspapers had already reported the “suicide” of the “traitor”, but an employee in the morgue noticed that he was still alive and so Giga was taken to the hospital. There nurse Marta devotedly takes care of Giga’s battered body. She cannot let go of the question of his true fate, but then he is picked up again.


An angel of history

World premiere: May 10, 2019, Braunschweig State Theater

Historicism tells the story of the winners. Their also victorious descendants cement it to tradition. To break open such an understanding of history and to dedicate himself to the ruins of history, to pick up the rags of the losers and to let them shine profanely, is the task of someone who himself almost would have been forgotten: Walter Benjamin.

Productions (selection)

  • 2013 A short dropout by Carlos Eugenio López at the Schauspiel Frankfurt
  • 2014 The story of the panda bears by Matei Vișniec at the Schauspiel Frankfurt
  • 2015 Anger and Thought by Christian Franke at the Schauspiel Frankfurt
  • 2017 The player: Dostojewski by Christian Franke at the Wiesbaden State Theater
  • 2017 CAPA! TARO by Christian Franke at the Theaterhaus Jena
  • 2018 Dostojewski's Crocodile in a version by Christian Franke at the Theaterhaus Jena
  • 2018 The third life of Fritz Giga by Christian Franke at Theater Oberhausen
  • 2019 An Angel of History by Christian Franke at the Braunschweig State Theater
  • 2020 Bouvard and Pécuchet based on Gustave Flaubert at the Braunschweig State Theater
  • 2020 Hannah ! The awakening of a political consciousness by Christian Franke at the HLT Marburg

Working method and stylistic devices

The theater critic Stefan Michalzik from the Frankfurter Rundschau writes about the location of the play Wut und Gedanke and its history. He also refers to the method of approaching Adorno through his student Krahl and assigns the piece to the documentary theater :

“The Frankfurter Schauspiel went to Frankfurt University:“ Wut und Gedanke ”by the young director Christian Franke is an intimate documentary about the connection between Krahl and Adorno. The monologue for the great actor Vincent Glander will be played in the IG Farben building . It does not matter that it is not historical floor: the library room with its newly antiquated aura appears ideal as a two-story book crypt. And the IG-Farben building is historically charged several times: as the former administration building of the manufacturer of the Zyklon B gas used in Auschwitz, as well as the headquarters of the US troops in Germany after the war. (...) This production succeeds in a marvelous way in making the intellectual climate of this time as well as the defiant characters of the two opponents tangible. A little bit of humor always resonates on the fringes of these well-considered, lively hour and a half. Current Aperçus are registered with the Krahl, for example with a view to the Center of Financial Studies at Frankfurt University and the dubious influence of the big banks as donors. This little theater work is a successful coup. "

Michael Hierholzer, arts editor of the FAZ , sees anger and thought as a play with performance elements:

“Christian Franke staged“ Wut und Gedanke ”as a production of the Frankfurter Schauspiel, a monologue about the philosopher and his student, the“ no-man ”Adorno, who didn't want his teachings to be understood as a guide to actionism, and the SDS man Krahl, who asked his teacher to take the lead in the revolution. Because he saw his works as an invitation to radically change first the university environment and then society. (...) Various performance elements await the visitors. It starts with walking up and down wide university stairs until the audience arrives at the scene, and ends with a person wearing an oversized bird mask and leaving the building after the performance into the big city night. "

The theater critic Judith von Sternburg compares the production The Story of the Panda Bears with a radio play :

“An enigmatic hour that the actresses Katharina Bach and Linda Pöppel performed with great tenderness in the Frankfurter Schauspiel-Box: cooing, purring, crunching, cuddling, squeaking, quietly laughing, quietly chatting, almost a radio play. (...) The strange initial situation on the stage comes from Christian Franke (director) and Sabine Mäder (stage). The audience can let their feet dangle all around in a recess which, with its foam padding, represents a kind of recording studio. It would also be sensible to think that the man lives in a building. In the middle there is all kinds of things ready, which on the one hand are just strange (all the lemons), on the other hand serve to invent the sound. In fact, Pöppel and Bach will primarily stand opposite one another at the edges and use microphones and small self-recorded loops to stage a funny-sounding world. As long as it is the sound of the budding, no, popping love falling from the sky, you listen and watch lovingly. The longer it takes, the more it becomes a pastime. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been 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.schauspielfrankfurt.de
  2. ↑ Berlin Bühnen: Anger and Thought. Retrieved October 31, 2017 .
  3. ↑ One for the road / The dumb servant. Retrieved February 4, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b Theaterhaus Jena gGmbH: Christian Franke | Theater house Jena. Retrieved on February 25, 2017 (German).
  5. ↑ 13.01.2012: haymatlos - A song recital - Frankfurter Autor Theater. Retrieved July 24, 2017 .
  6. ↑ OUR KOHLHAAS. Retrieved July 24, 2017 .
  7. ↑ a b Schauspiel Frankfurt: Schauspiel Frankfurt - The story of the panda bears, Matéï Visniec. (No longer available online.) In: www.schauspielfrankfurt.de. Archived from the original on July 10, 2016 ; Retrieved July 10, 2016 . 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.schauspielfrankfurt.de
  8. ↑ a b c Schauspiel Frankfurt: Schauspiel Frankfurt - anger and thought. (No longer available online.) In: www.schauspielfrankfurt.de. Archived from the original on July 10, 2016 ; Retrieved July 10, 2016 . 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.schauspielfrankfurt.de
  9. ^ A b c Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden: Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden - The player: Dostojewski, theater project by Christian Franke. In: www.staatstheater-wiesbaden.de. Retrieved July 10, 2016 .
  10. ↑ a b c pieces. Retrieved June 9, 2017 .
  11. ↑ A short dropout | Carlos Eugenio López. In: www.theater-muenster.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016 .
  12. ^ Volksbühne Berlin: Volksbühne Berlin. In: www.volksbuehne-berlin.de. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Martin Kleinwächter: A great evening for actress Anna Polke . ( nrz.de [accessed on September 23, 2018]).
  14. ↑ Theater der Zeit: Martin-Linzer-Theaterpreis 2019 goes to the Staatstheater Braunschweig. Theater der Zeit, 2018, accessed on May 31, 2019 (German).
  15. ↑ a b Theaterhaus Jena gGmbH: CAPA! TARO | Theater house Jena. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 10, 2016 ; accessed on February 4, 2017 (German). 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.theaterhaus-jena.de
  16. ↑ a b production. Retrieved July 6, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Schauspiel Frankfurt: Schauspiel Frankfurt - A short dropout, Carlos Eugenio López. (No longer available online.) In: www.schauspielfrankfurt.de. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016 ; Retrieved July 6, 2016 . 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.schauspielfrankfurt.de
  18. ^ Theaterhaus Jena gGmbH: Das Krokodil | Theater house Jena. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 7, 2017 ; accessed on October 31, 2017 (German). 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.theaterhaus-jena.de
  19. ↑ production. Retrieved June 8, 2020 .
  20. ↑ HLT Marburg: season booklet 20/21 . Ed .: HLT Marburg.
  21. ↑ https://www.fr.de/kultur/theater/woelfe-hausen-11697498.html
  22. ↑ Michael Hierholzer: Bockenheimer book heroes. In: FAZ.net . March 10, 2015, accessed October 13, 2018 .
  23. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from July 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Franke, Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German director and dramaturge
DATE OF BIRTH 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH Naumburg / Saale