Peter Goessner

Goessner is a redirect to this article. For other people see Gössner .

Peter Goessner (born June 25, 1962 in Leipzig ) is a German theater director and theater teacher who lives and works in Japan .

Life

After his apprenticeship and military service, Goessner worked for the border troops of the NVA as a construction machinist , training instructor and FDJ secretary in the Leipzig Transport and Civil Engineering Combine. He was a member of the amateur theater of VEB MLW Leipzig, where he played theater under the direction of Peter Lange. From 1986 to 1988 he studied at the Rostock branch of the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin . From 1988 to 1992 he worked at the Theater der Junge Garde, later Thalia Theater , in Halle as assistant director, assistant dramaturge and actor. There he directed a. a. the series texts in Thalia and directed George Tabori's “Babylonblues” for the first time.

In parallel, he studied at the School of Theater Hans Otto , Leipzig, and theater studies. a. with Rudolf Münz , Gerda Baumbach and Gottfried Fischborn . In 1995 he presented his diploma thesis on The Angura Theater in Japan in its first phase around 1969/70 at the University of Leipzig .

In 1992 Goessner and his family moved to Kitakyushu , Japan. Here he founded his own theater group in 1995, which he named Uzume Gekijō (Uzume Theater) after the Japanese deity Uzume , who uses theatrical power to lure the sun goddess Amaterasu out of her cave. The group becomes a regional institution with at least two productions a year. In 2000 she was invited to the internationally known theater festival in Toga, which was directed by Tadashi Suzuki . Goessner wins the directing competition with his production of Kunio Kishidas "Kamifūsen" (paper balloon).

With the help of government and private funding now awarded to the Uzume Theater and invitations to festivals, the theater will perform in many cities in Japan between 2001 and 2007. It has received international invitations from Egypt (Cairo 2004), Taiwan (Taipei 2006) and Germany (Leipzig 2007). In 2004 Goessner accepted a teaching position at the Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music (long-time director: Yukio Ninagawa) in Chofu , where he still teaches drama and western theater. The Uzume Theater moves with him. In addition to his teaching activities, Goessner will be entrusted with the artistic direction of the new municipal Sengawa Theater in Chōfu (2008–2011). Here, based on the German model, he built up the artistic structures and the theater and founded two festivals (Jazz-Art-Sengawa; Figure and Puppet Theater Festival Inochi).

In addition, Goessner works successfully as a freelance director in Tokyo. His production of Heiner Müller's Philoktet received a nomination for the largest Japanese theater prize, the Yomiuri Award (2010). The Japanese premiere of the Robert Schumann opera Genoveva at the New National Theater in Tokyo ( 新 国立 劇場 , Shin Kokuritsu Gekijō ; 2011), which u. a. visited by the Japanese Reiwa emperor Naruhito.

In 2012, the staging of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Die Physiker , which Goessner staged as a reaction to the earthquake and the events around the Fukushima nuclear power plant with Toho Gakuen students in the traditional Haiyuza Theater , received special attention.

Theater work

When Goessner came to Japan in 1992, his approach was first of all to create a place, employees, trust and the necessity to work in a strange environment. As a student of Rudolf Münz (The Other Theater), he made the idea that the basis of theater making in history is traveling from place to place. Making yourself an "experimental rabbit" becomes a principle. As in Heiner Müller's text "The Elevator", he tries to get out of the orderly office-elevator world and exist in "Peru". As in the Müller story about the missionary who ends up with Martians somewhere in space and who at his request build a church with him and ultimately nail him to the cross, he too has to "sacrifice himself", i.e. H. take responsibility for everything he wants to do. Then it may be pulled along. Then there may be prizes, recognition, invitations, funding, job offers, etc., which was the case with Goessner.

Goessner's theatrical art is based on a kind of overall theater concept: Working, living, being successful and high-quality theater, special theater experiences through the expression of the other, are two sides of the same coin.

Over the years Goessner has established many contacts in the Japanese theater world, but has also worked with personalities such as Richard Schechner in Taiwan and Keith Johnstone in Canada. Anthropology and improvisational theater are two foundations for creating a kind of "theater with the view from outside" in Japan, asserting the unfamiliar and bringing new perspectives and experiences to the stage. Goessner's directors are guided by the content, are not avant-garde at first glance, never self-satisfying, but deeply shaped by human and artistic insights that he would not have been able to develop as a director if he had only lived and worked in Germany. His directing is not self-sufficient directing craft, but a non-conforming point of view that lives from the experience of different basic attitudes in Japan and Germany, a "sitting between the chairs", which is not just out to provoke, because it confidently connects experiences of two worlds and thereby automatically achieving something else.

Goessner is one of the few traveling directors and theater directors in German theater who have made a name for themselves abroad.

Productions (selection)

1984 to 1992

as an actor: u. a. in Heiner Müller "The Battle / Tractor"; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "Clavigo"; Carlo Goldoni "Campiello"; Rainer Maria Fassbinder "Bremer Freiheit", George Tabori "Mein Kampf"

1988-1992

• Director: u. a. Ireneusz Iredynski "Farewell, Judas"; Jean Genet "The Maids"; Peter Turrini "Die Wirtin" (Theater of the Young Guard / Thalia Theater, Halle)
• George Tabori "Babylonblues" (Thalia Theater, Halle)
• Texts in Thalia: u. a. Hans Joachim Maaz "Emotional Jam"; Markus Wolf "Troika"; Rolf Henrich "The Guardian State"; Vaclav Havel "Audience / Vernissage" (Theater of the Young Guard / Thalia Theater, Halle)

1995 to 2000

• Yukio Mishima "Waga Tomo Hitora" (My Friend Hitler), Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka
• Ren Saito "Akame" (Red Eyes), Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu
• Makoto Satoh "Nezumi Kozō", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu
• Euripides "Medea", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu
• Antoine de Saint-Exupery "The Little Prince", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu
• Samuel Beckett "Waiting for Godot", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu
• Kobo Abe "Bō ni natta otoko" (The Man Who Became a Stick), Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu

2000 to 2007

• Kunio Kishida "Kamifūsen" (paper balloon), Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu, Hiroshima, Tagawa, Toga National Director's Competition
• Carlo Gozzi "King Deer", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu; Shizuoka International Theater Festival
• Emiko Otsuka "Kinyōbi no shokutaku" (Friday: dinner), municipal theater, Kitakyushu, opening production
• Sergi Belbel "A Moment Before Dying", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu; Black Tent Theater, Tokyo
• Emiko Otsuka "Yamamba" (The Mountain Witch), Nagano Ensemble; Toga International Theater Festival, SPAC Shizuoka Art Theater
• Heiner Müller "The Order", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu; Heiner Müller Festival, Tokyo
• Heinrich von Kleist "Penthesilea", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu; Toga International Theater Festival, Tottori Theater Festival, Tokyo Ginga Theater
• Lisa Minagawa "Monogurugusami", Municipal Theater, Kitakyushu
• Matsuyo Akimoto "In Gala" (Reifuku), TOHO Theater, Tokyo
• Georg Büchner "Leonce and Lena", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu; Ikachi Theater Festival; Hiroshima; Miyazaki; Tokyo
• Juro Kara "Kin no Tsubo" (The Golden Pot), Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu; Cairo Theater Festival, Egypt
• Heiner Müller "The Battle", TOHO Theater, Tokyo
• ETA Hoffmann "The Golden Pot", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu; Yokohama Theater Festival
• Peter Turrini "Rat Hunt", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagano, Kyoto, Ikachi Theater Festival, Aichi Prefecture Theater Festival Nagoya, Iwato Theater Tokyo, Agora Theater Tokyo
• Frank Wedekind "Spring Awakening", New National Theater Acting Studio, Tokyo
• Sophocles "Antigone", Uzume Theater, Kitakyushu; Japan Festival Ohayo! Leipzig, Germany; TOHO Theater Tokyo
• Elfriede Jelinek "Never mind. A small trilogy of death", Setagaya Public Theater, Tokyo

2008 to 2011

• Ai Nagai "Toki no mono oki" (The Time Storage Room), Sengawa Theater, Tokyo, opening
• Sergi Belbel "Mobil", Sengawa Theater, Tokyo, opening
• Red jelly "What does love mean here?", Sengawa Theater, Tokyo
• Hideki Kosaka "Murasaki", musical, urban open-air stage, Kitakyushu, opening
• Jewgeni Schwarz "The Snow Queen", Sengawa Theater, Tokyo
• Dario Fo "Open two-way relationship", Uzume Theater, Tokyo
• Minoru Betsuyaku "Sekishoku elegie" (Deep Red Elegy), ZaSusunari Theater, Tokyo
• Jewgeni Schwarz "The Dragon", TOHO Theater, Tokyo
• Heiner Müller "Philoktet", Theater Zatsuyu, Tokyo
• Anton Chekhov "Three Sisters", New National Theater Acting Studio, Tokyo
• Bertolt Brecht "Threepenny Opera" TOHO-Theater, Tokyo
• Jean Giroudoux "Undine", Sengawa Theater, Tokyo
• Yukio Mishima "Waga Tomo Hitora" (My Friend Hitler), Theater ZaSusunari, Tokyo

2012

• Robert Schumann "Genoveva" (Japanese premiere), New National Theater, Tokyo (Shin Kokuritsu Gekijō)
• Friedrich Dürrenmatt "The Physicists", TOHO Theater + Theater Haiyuza, Tokyo
• Amadeus Mozart "Magic Flute", TOHO Theater + Sengawa Theater, Tokyo

2013 to 2019

• Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais "The Marriage of Figaro", TOHO Theater + Sengawa Theater, Tokyo
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart "The Marriage of Figaro", TOHO Theater + Sengawa Theater, Tokyo
• Kobo Abe "Friends", TOHO Theater, Tokyo
• Kobo Abe "Sand Woman", Uzume Theater, ZaSuzunari Theater, Tokyo (ShimoKitazawa Theater Festival)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart "Magic Flute", TOHO-Theater + Sengawa-Theater, Tokyo
• Sophocles "Antigone", National Theater Academy China, Shanghai and Beijing
• Minoru Betsuyaku "SebonePakuPaku Kaitenmokuba", Nattori Jimushou, Haiyuza Theater, Tokyo
• Johann Nestroy "Former Conditions & Chief Evening Wind" (Japanese premiere), Theater X, Tokyo
• Bertolt Brecht "Threepenny Opera", Theater Haiyuza, Tokyo (new translation: Michiko Tanigawa)
• Sergi Belbel "Morir", TOHO Theater, Tokyo
• Shungiku Uchida "Yuko on the Way" (world premiere), Zatsuyu Theater, Tokyo
• William Shakespeare "Antony and Cleopatra", TOHO-Theater + Theater X, Tokyo
• Seiji Hayashi "Red Colored Elegy", TOHO Theater, Tokyo
• Pierre Carlet de Marivaux "The Wrong Maid", TOHO Theater
• Agota Kristof "The Key to the Elevator" Tokyo Rainbow Theater, Okunoto Art Festival
• Shungicu Uchida "Father Fucker, the Musical" (world premiere), Haiyuza Theater, Tokyo
• Samuel Beckett "Waiting for Godot", TOHO Theater, National Theater Academy, Seoul, South Korea (Grand Prix Best Play), National Theater Academy, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
• Jean Baptiste Racine "Phedre", Tokyo Arts Museum; Iran Theater Edamitsu, Takamizuhama Beach Wakamatsu, Performing Arts Center Kokura, Kyushu
• Pierre Carlet de Marivaux "The Wrong Maid", Iran Theater Edamitsu, Takamizuhama Beach Wakamatsu, Performing Arts Center Kokura, Kyushu
• Shungicu Uchida "Father Fucker, the Musical", Tokyo Metropolitan Theater, Ikebukuro, performance by the Association of 5 Tokyo Theater Schools

Workshop

Egypt, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Germany, England, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Colombia, Romania, Switzerland, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam

Awards

• 1983 and 1985 gold medal at the workers' festival of the GDR with the amateur theater of VEB MLW Leipzig as an actor for Heiner Müller "Die Schlacht / Traktor" (1983) and Johann Wolfgang Goethe "Clavigo" (1985)
• 1997 Best production: Makoto Satoh "Nezumi Kozō", theater magazine JAMCi (8/1997)
• 2000 First laureate of the National Directing Competition of the Union of Theater Workers of Japan (Engekijin) under the direction of Tadashi Suzuki for Kunio Kishida "Kamifūsen"
• 2001 Kitakyushu City Culture Promotion Prize
• 2003 Best production: Sergi Belbel "A moment before dying", Asahi newspaper
• 2005 Kitakyushu City Education Award
• 2005 Best production: Peter Turrini "Rattenjagd", Theater Arts magazine
• 2008 National Set Design Award for Antigone @ Japan
• 2009 Kitakyushu City Cultural Ambassador
• 2009 Best production: Minoru Betsuyaku "Deep Red Elegy" (Sekishoku elegie), theater magazine TEATRO
• 2010 nomination for the Yomiuri Award for the production of Heiner Müller's Philoktet
• 2011 Japanese urban development design award for the jazz outdoor stage as part of the Jazz Art Festival, Sengawa Theater, Tokyo
• 2012 DisplayDesignAward for the further development of the jazz outdoor stage, Sengawa Theater, Tokyo
• 2014 Best Actor Award: 1st role of Ismene, 2nd role of Antigone at the ATEC International Festival Beijing
• 2018 Grand Prix Best Play: Samuel Beckett "Waiting for Godot", Best Actor Award: role of Estragon at the ATEC Asia International Theater EducationFestival Seoul

Web links

• Uzume Gekijō website (Japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, April 4, 1992: “Brash, lustful and quietly, brilliant theatrical performance, ... sensitive leadership of the young director Peter Gößner, who can thus make a grandiose debut. ... That makes you want more, director woke up !!! "
2. ↑ Theater Arts, Tokyo, No. 50/2012, pp. 111/112
3. ^ Münz, Rudolf: Das Andere Theater, Berlin, Henschelverlag 1979
4. ↑ Müller, Heiner: The order. Memory of a revolution. In: Müller, Heiner: Pieces. Berlin, Henschelverlag 1988, p. 435.
5. ^ Müller, Heiner: "Fatzer Material", 1978, and "Quartet", 1981. In: Müller, Heiner: War without battle. Life in two dictatorships, Cologne, Kiepenheuer u. Witsch, 1992, p. 313.