Frank Sobotta

Frank Sobotta (* in Hamburg ) is a German lighting designer who has headed the lighting department of the United Bühnen Wien since 2008 .

life and work

Sobotta studied electrical engineering and event technology in Berlin and worked as a lighting designer or head of lighting on various stages during his studies since 1980. Engagements followed in Hamburg, at the Schillertheater Berlin and at the Schauspiel Köln , in Ulm, Vienna, Graz, Trieste and St. Petersburg. Since 1980 he has headed the lighting department of the United Bühnen Wien , which includes the Theater an der Wien , the Ronacher , the Raimundtheater and the Vienna Chamber Opera . At the same time he works as a guest on various theaters in Central Europe. In total, Sobotta has illuminated more than two hundred productions - operas , musicals , ballet and drama - including West Side Story and Evita , Robert Wilson's Black Rider and Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress , Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Verdi's Otello .

In Vienna he was responsible for the lighting design for La traviata at the Vienna Volksoper (2001), von Stockhausen's Thursday at the Wiener Taschenoper (2008), as well as for three productions of the chamber opera : Verkehr mit Gespenstern (2012), Semiramide (2013) and Rinaldo ( 2014).

In 2005, he designed the lighting for the world premiere of Lorenzo Ferreros Montezuma at the National Theater in Prague . The Stockhausen production of the Vienna Pocket Opera, staged by Carlos Padrissa ( La Fura dels Baus ), was not only seen at the Wiener Festwochen , but also in Cologne, Dresden and Warsaw, at the Venice Musical Biennale and at the Festival d'automne from Paris.

Will work again at the Bad Hersfeld Festival 2019

• Has worked at the Mainz State Theater since 2018
• Worked at Bad Hersfelder Festspiele (summer 2018)
• Worked as a lighting master at the Stadttheater Gießen
• Worked as lighting master at Bad Hersfelder Festspiele (2017)
• Worked as head of lighting at Saarland State Theater

Web links

• Theater an der Wien , short biography of the lighting designer
• OperaBase , productions of the lighting designer

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Taschenoper Wien , Accompanying Material for Educators, accessed on December 4, 2014
2. ↑ Vereinigte Bühnen Wien , short biography of the lighting designer, accessed on December 4, 2014