Peter Beckert

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Ralf Gunther Peter Beckert (born January 27, 1927 in Dresden ; † April 17, 1988 in Radebeul ) was a German puppeteer , puppeteer, author and theater director .

Life

Peter Beckert grew up as the son of the married couple Hugo Beckert, art glazier from Freiberg and Martha Beckert, geb. Kaiser, in Dresden .

After attending elementary school and middle school, he graduated from school in 1943 with the secondary school leaving certificate and began training at Deutsche Post. In 1944 Peter Beckert was called up for military service. In 1945 he was seriously wounded in Holland and was taken prisoner in East Friesland. In December 1945 he returned to his hometown Dresden from the war. There he continued his training at Deutsche Post, completed it with the administrative examination for the high-level telecommunications service and from 1948 worked in various offices of the Dresden Telecommunications Office. In parallel to his work in the telecommunications office, Peter Beckert completed extensive training as a puppeteer . Following the always strong urge for artistic activity, from 1948 he took acting lessons from Hans Finohr as well as lessons in drawing, painting and modeling from the sculptor Etha Richter , the painter and sculptor Gustav Schmidt and the painter and illustrator Josef Hegenbarth . From 1952 he accepted an engagement at the State Puppet Theater in Dresden and was a co-founder of this institution. At the same time as his work at the puppet theater, he began continuous training and further education in puppetry and theater directing, and in 1968 was awarded the stage maturity by the Ministry of Culture .

Peter Beckert married the actress and puppeteer Käte Beckert, born in 1960. Turk. Both have worked together in many productions. In 1967 their son Philipp Beckert was born.

plant

Peter Beckert had a decisive influence on puppetry in the GDR . He played in 51 productions in the multiple casts characteristic of him and usually acted in 2–3 roles simultaneously in one piece. He created puppet theater figures and performed plays himself and in a distinctive style. Peter Beckert was very much appreciated by local and international colleagues for his extraordinarily expressive and multi-faceted puppetry. His close colleagues included the puppeteers and directors Carl Schröder , Paul Hölzig , Rüdiger Kollar and Maria Käppler, the set designers Achim Freyer and Andreas Reinhard , the songwriter Dieter Beckert, and others.

Peter Beckert took a leave of absence from the puppet theater for further professional training in order to learn shadow theater from Fritz Gay . Back at the State Puppet Theater, he incorporated these new modes of representation into the puppet show, which at the time was a highly innovative combination of scenic elements. Some shadow play productions by Fritz Gay, in which Peter Beckert participated as a player, were then created directly at the Dresden Puppet Theater.

Until his death in 1988, Peter Beckert was the protagonist, committed puppeteer and director in the ensemble of the Dresden State Puppet Theater. In 15 of his own productions and sets, he led the ensemble to top performances that also attracted attention abroad.

Peter Beckert has received numerous prizes and awards on an international level. His work is supported by the Puppet Theater Collection Dresden the State Art Collections Dresden managed.

Collections

literature

  • UNIMA (ed.), Puppet Theater of the World. Contemporary puppet show in words and images, Henschel Verlag Kunst und Gesellschaft, Berlin, 1965, Peter Beckert, Kasper (from "Kasper and the Truth Shroud"), image no. 70
  • Monika Mehnert, cloakroom talk with Peter Beckert, Theater der Zeit, 11/1982, Berlin, 1982
  • Sigrid Walther (Ed.), Between Departure and Agony. The Dresden gallery north 1974 to 1991, series of publications of the SLUB, Saxon State Library, Staats- u. University Library Dresden, 2009, 176 pages, ISBN 978-3-940319-77-7
  • Klaus Breuing, Matthias Thalheim (eds.), Lampion! - From the life of a puppeteer, anecdotes, dykes, stories, Verlag Neopubli GmbH, Berlin, 2016, ISBN 978-3-7418-2111-0 , p. 59
  • Werner Kohlschmidt, Wolfgang Mohr (Eds.), Reallexikon der deutschen Literaturgeschichte, Volume 1, A – K, Peter Beckert, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York, 2001, p. 311, ISBN 3-11-017252-6

Web links


personal data
SURNAME Beckert, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beckert, Ralf Gunther Peter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German puppeteer, puppet maker, author and theater director
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1988
Place of death Radebeul