Lutz Graf
Lutz Graf (born August 23, 1953 in Magdeburg ) is a German drama and music theater director.
Life
After studying German, cultural studies and theater studies at the University of Leipzig and an apprenticeship with Horst Schönemann at the Staatsschauspiel in Dresden , he began his career in 1981 at the theater of the young generation in Dresden, later he went to the theater of the city of Plauen for a season finally in 1987 to take over the acting direction at Theater Nordhausen . There he attracted attention for his productions of classics as well as for politically risky efforts to get the important authors of the GDR drama. The GDR premiere of Heiner Müllers achieved supraregional importanceText "Bildbeschreibung", a montage of texts by Heiner Müller "Where is the morning that we saw yesterday" and the double project "Transit Europe" by Volker Braun and "Passage" by Christoph Hein . In addition, important directors such as Armin Petras and Konstanze Lauterbach made their debut in Nordhausen under Lutz Graf's direction . After considerable problems and disputes with the district leadership of the SED in Erfurt, Lutz Graf resigned his office in the summer of 1989 and from then on worked as a freelancer at the Leipzig Theater, among others .
Since the spring of 1989 he has been involved in the Leipzig citizens' movement. He was a member of the coordination committee for the Monday demonstrations and the round table for the Leipzig district. He also wrote a regular column for the GDR's first independent weekly newspaper, “ Die Andere Zeitung ”. From the summer of 1990 on, Lutz Graf was one of the three directors, along with Konstanze Lauterbach and Dietrich Kunze , who dared to make a new artistic start in Leipzig with one of the largest theater ensembles in the former GDR. The critic and juror of the Berlin Theatertreffen Erika Stephan wrote about this time:
“Graf is the philosopher in the Leipzig directing group. He draws his inspiration from Foucault or Elias rather than from literary studies. He proved how productive this process can be with his staging of Georg Seidel's “Villa Jugend” at the Dresden State Theater. The intellectual backround of the characters was not limited to the apocalyptic mood of the GDR; His Leipzig "Nathan" impresses with gloomy, coherent images and an ensemble of presence. "
For this production, which was also recorded by ZDF, Lutz Graf received the sponsorship award for the Lessing Prize of the Free State of Saxony, which was awarded for the first time in 1993.
In 1995 Lutz Graf was hired as a permanent director at the Grazer Schauspiel under the direction of Marc Günther. He also worked as a guest at the Graz Opera during Gerhard Brunner's directorship. There were around 20 productions in both houses within a few years. These included: Schnitzler's “Professor Bernhardi”, Alban Berg's “Wozzeck”, Chekhov's “Uncle Wanja”, Mozart's “Così fan tutte” and Wagner's “Tristan und Isolde”, for which the future Oscar winner Yip Kam Tim (“Tiger and Dragon ”) designed the costumes. With “Così fan tutte” the ensemble of the Graz Opera made a guest appearance in Singapore.
Lutz Graf returned to Germany in early 2000 and has lived in Munich as a freelance director, dramaturge and author ever since. His most important works were created for the Wiener Festwochen - the world premiere of Christian Ofenbauer's "SzenePenthesileaEinTraum" at the Theater an der Wien with Ulf Schirmer on the podium, the Dresden State Operetta , the New Theater Halle and the Rostock Volkstheater . The critic Thomas Irmer wrote about the Heiner Müller Bruchstücke project - a co-production of the Rostock Volkstheater with the University of Music and Theater - :
“... this collage is space with a little ironic GDR depression, but today humans are a celestial boulder. (...) Under Lutz Graf, there was a team at work that made you wonder what they are doing now, these actors who have been challenged once again and this director who is so important in Leipzig and so much respected in Graz. "
Lutz Graf translated Chekhov's Platonov from Russian and staged it himself for the New Theater in Halle. His literary works include the original libretto Wache for the Austrian composer Christian Ofenbauer and the novel Übermalungdaniel .
Lutz Graf has staged a total of 123 productions for drama and music theater. In autumn 2008 he founded the workshop.Dramaten training and further education center with the director Volker Metzler in Dresden . A year later, he separated from the DRAMATEN group in terms of content and organization and set up his own training and further education facility , the Schauwerk Dresden Hellerau .
Productions
- Nordhausen Theater
- Heiner Müller - picture description
- Volker Braun - Transit Europe
- Christoph Hein - Passage
- Calderon - life is a dream
- Schiller - Maria Stuart
- Schauspielhaus Graz
- Shakespeare - Richard III
- Chekhov - Uncle Vanya
- Horvath - Stories from the Vienna Woods
- Schnitzler - Professor Bernhardi
- Schauspielhaus Leipzig
- Lessing: - Nathan
- Shakespeare - Winter's Tale
- Goethe - Iphigenia on Tauris
- Kleist - The Broken Jug
- other theaters
- Tabori - Mein Kampf / Staatsschauspiel Dresden
- Georg Seidel - Villa Jugend / Dresden, Bonn Biennale
- Shakespeare - Lost love effort / Prinzregententheater Munich
- Kleist - Michael Kohlhaas / Volkstheater Rostock
- Chekhov - Platonow / New Theater Hall
- Marivaux - game of love and chance / Schwetzingen Festival
- Graz Opera House
- Mozart - Così fan tutte
- Berg - Wozzeck
- Beethoven - Fidelio
- Wagner - Tristan and Isolde
- Lehár - The merry widow
- other musical theater
- Ofenbauer - ScenePhentesileaEinTraum / Wiener Festwochen, Theater an der Wien
- Johann Strauss - Carneval in Rome / Dresden State Operetta
- Richard Wagner - The Flying Dutchman / State Theater Braunschweig
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Graf, Lutz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German theater and music theater director |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 23rd August 1953 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Magdeburg |