Peter Zadek
Encyclopedia
Peter Zadek (ˈtsaːdɛk; 19 May 1926 – 30 July 2009) was a German
theatre and film director
, play translator and screenwriter
and is regarded as one of the greatest directors in German-speaking theater. He was the head of the Schauspielhaus Bochum
, Bochum
(1972–1979), the Deutsches Schauspielhaus
, Hamburg
(1985–1989) and the Berliner Ensemble
from 1992 to 1996. He was chosen "Director of the year" by Theater Heute magazine on numerous occasions.
. It is unknown whether his birth date is May 19 or May 26. In 1934, with his Berlin-Jewish emigre family, he emigrated to London
where he later studied at Old Vic
theatre, after a year at Oxford University
.
He began in weekly rep in Swansea and Pontypridd. He studied at the Old Vic, and his first productions included Oscar Wilde
’s Salome
and T. S. Eliot
’s Sweeney Agonistes. Zadek caused a stir in London in the late 1950s with his productions of works by Jean Genet
. Indeed, Genet was so outraged by Zadek's world première of The Balcony
at the Arts in 1957 that he apparently bought a gun with the intention of shooting his director. He also worked as a director for the BBC
in this period.
Returning to Germany in 1958, Zadek worked in the theatre in Bremen from 1962 to 1968. In 1969, he directed the film I'm an Elephant, Madame
. It was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival
, where it won a Silver Bear award.
He headed up such major German theaters as the Schauspielhaus Bochum
(1972–1979) and the Deutsches Schauspielhaus
in Hamburg (1985–1989). He became co-director of the Berliner Ensemble
from 1992 to 1996. Zadek was also a member of the German Academy of the Arts (since 1991).
In 1992, Zadek was appointed as one of the heads of the Berliner Ensemble
, the theater founded by Bertolt Brecht
. After German reunification the Senate of Berlin
appointed a "collective" of five stage directors to serve as Intendanten (General Administrators): Peter Zadek, Peter Palitzsch (1918–2004), Heiner Müller
, Fritz Marquardt and Matthias Langhoff. In this former East German theater Zadek was the director who represented the West. Indeed, he brought with him an international team that formed a "Western invasion" which revived the Berliner Ensemble. In addition to bringing great actors such as Gert Voss and Eva Mattes
, Zadek brought in young protege stage directors such as British director Rosee Riggs and also appointed renowned American Berlin-based conductor Alexander Frey
as Music Director of the theater. Frey was the first American to hold any position at the Berliner Ensemble, as well as being the theatre’s first non-German Music Director; his historic predecessors include the composers Kurt Weill
, Hanns Eisler
, and Paul Dessau-all of whom worked under Brecht.
Zadek was renowned for productions of Shakespeare
's plays and for sparking a greater interest in English drama among German audiences. In 1999 in Vienna, he directed Hamlet
with a woman in the title role. His staging of The Merchant of Venice in the 1960s was set in the financial district of London, and in 1994 his brilliant direction of Anthony and Cleopatra combined World War I England and ancient Egypt. This production won the Critics' Prize of the Edinburgh International Festival
.
Zadek and his partner, Elisabeth Plessen, have translated many of Shakespeare's works into German for the theater as well as works of Pinter and Chekhov
, among others.
The director also worked at the Burgtheater in Vienna, where he staged The Merchant of Venice, starring Gert Voss, Eva Mattes
and Paulus Manker
.
Zadek directed his first opera, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro
, in 1983. He also directed Kurt Weill's opera, Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
) at the Salzburg Festival in 1998.
Despite suffering from an illness, Zadek continued working in his later years. In 2008, he staged Luigi Pirandello
's "Naked" at the St. Pauli Theater in Hamburg.
Zadek's last production was Shaw
's Major Barbara
, performed at the Schauspielhaus in Zurich in February 2009.
Following Zadek's death, Brtitish critic Michael Billington
wrote in The Guardian
:
Billington also wrote in the same article:
He acted in a small role in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's
film Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss (Veronika Voss, 1982).
He died of natural causes in Hamburg.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
theatre and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, play translator and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and is regarded as one of the greatest directors in German-speaking theater. He was the head of the Schauspielhaus Bochum
Schauspielhaus Bochum
The Schauspielhaus Bochum is one of the largest and most notable theatres in Germany. It is located in the city of Bochum....
, Bochum
Bochum
Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...
(1972–1979), the Deutsches Schauspielhaus
Deutsches Schauspielhaus
The Deutsches Schauspielhaus is a theatre in the St. Georg quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany. With a capacity for 1192 spectators, it places it as Germany's largest theatre...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
(1985–1989) and the Berliner Ensemble
Berliner Ensemble
The Berliner Ensemble is a German theatre company established by playwright Bertolt Brecht and his wife, Helene Weigel in January 1949 in East Berlin...
from 1992 to 1996. He was chosen "Director of the year" by Theater Heute magazine on numerous occasions.
Biography
Peter Zadek was born in 1926 to a Jewish family in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. It is unknown whether his birth date is May 19 or May 26. In 1934, with his Berlin-Jewish emigre family, he emigrated to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where he later studied at Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
theatre, after a year at Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
He began in weekly rep in Swansea and Pontypridd. He studied at the Old Vic, and his first productions included Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
’s Salome
Salome
Salome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...
and T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
’s Sweeney Agonistes. Zadek caused a stir in London in the late 1950s with his productions of works by Jean Genet
Jean Genet
Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
. Indeed, Genet was so outraged by Zadek's world première of The Balcony
The Balcony
The Balcony is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. Since Peter Zadek directed its first production at the Arts Theatre Club in London in 1957, the play has attracted many of the greatest directors of the 20th century, including Peter Brook, Erwin Piscator, Roger Blin, Giorgio Strehler, and...
at the Arts in 1957 that he apparently bought a gun with the intention of shooting his director. He also worked as a director for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in this period.
Returning to Germany in 1958, Zadek worked in the theatre in Bremen from 1962 to 1968. In 1969, he directed the film I'm an Elephant, Madame
I'm an Elephant, Madame
I'm an Elephant, Madame is a 1969 German comedy film directed by Peter Zadek. It was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won a Silver Bear award.-Cast:* Heinz Baumann - Dr. Nemitz* Wolfgang Schneider - Rull - schoolboy...
. It was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival
19th Berlin International Film Festival
The 19th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 25 to July 6, 1969.-Jury:* Johannes Schaaf * Agnesa Kalinova* José P...
, where it won a Silver Bear award.
He headed up such major German theaters as the Schauspielhaus Bochum
Schauspielhaus Bochum
The Schauspielhaus Bochum is one of the largest and most notable theatres in Germany. It is located in the city of Bochum....
(1972–1979) and the Deutsches Schauspielhaus
Deutsches Schauspielhaus
The Deutsches Schauspielhaus is a theatre in the St. Georg quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany. With a capacity for 1192 spectators, it places it as Germany's largest theatre...
in Hamburg (1985–1989). He became co-director of the Berliner Ensemble
Berliner Ensemble
The Berliner Ensemble is a German theatre company established by playwright Bertolt Brecht and his wife, Helene Weigel in January 1949 in East Berlin...
from 1992 to 1996. Zadek was also a member of the German Academy of the Arts (since 1991).
In 1992, Zadek was appointed as one of the heads of the Berliner Ensemble
Berliner Ensemble
The Berliner Ensemble is a German theatre company established by playwright Bertolt Brecht and his wife, Helene Weigel in January 1949 in East Berlin...
, the theater founded by Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
. After German reunification the Senate of Berlin
Senate of Berlin
The Senate of Berlin is the executive body governing the city of Berlin, which at the same time is a state of Germany. According to the Constitution of Berlin the Senate consists of the Governing Mayor of Berlin and up to eight Senators appointed by the Governing Mayor, two of whom are appointed ...
appointed a "collective" of five stage directors to serve as Intendanten (General Administrators): Peter Zadek, Peter Palitzsch (1918–2004), Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller was a German dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. Described as "the theatre's greatest living poet" since Samuel Beckett, Müller is arguably the most important German dramatist of the 20th century after Bertolt Brecht...
, Fritz Marquardt and Matthias Langhoff. In this former East German theater Zadek was the director who represented the West. Indeed, he brought with him an international team that formed a "Western invasion" which revived the Berliner Ensemble. In addition to bringing great actors such as Gert Voss and Eva Mattes
Eva Mattes
Eva Mattes is a German-Austrian actress.Mattes appeared in four films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and A Man Called Eva , as a bearded film director based on the then recently deceased Fassbinder...
, Zadek brought in young protege stage directors such as British director Rosee Riggs and also appointed renowned American Berlin-based conductor Alexander Frey
Alexander Frey
Alexander Frey is an American symphony orchestra conductor. He is also known as a virtuoso organist and pianist. Frey is in great demand as one of the world's most versatile conductors, and has enjoyed great success in the concert hall and opera house, and in the music of Broadway and Hollywood.In...
as Music Director of the theater. Frey was the first American to hold any position at the Berliner Ensemble, as well as being the theatre’s first non-German Music Director; his historic predecessors include the composers Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
, and Paul Dessau-all of whom worked under Brecht.
Zadek was renowned for productions of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's plays and for sparking a greater interest in English drama among German audiences. In 1999 in Vienna, he directed Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
with a woman in the title role. His staging of The Merchant of Venice in the 1960s was set in the financial district of London, and in 1994 his brilliant direction of Anthony and Cleopatra combined World War I England and ancient Egypt. This production won the Critics' Prize of the Edinburgh International Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
.
Zadek and his partner, Elisabeth Plessen, have translated many of Shakespeare's works into German for the theater as well as works of Pinter and Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, among others.
The director also worked at the Burgtheater in Vienna, where he staged The Merchant of Venice, starring Gert Voss, Eva Mattes
Eva Mattes
Eva Mattes is a German-Austrian actress.Mattes appeared in four films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and A Man Called Eva , as a bearded film director based on the then recently deceased Fassbinder...
and Paulus Manker
Paulus Manker
Paulus Manker is an Austrian film director and actor, as well as an author and screenplay writer.Manker is considered one of the most maverick German-speaking actors, and polarizes public opinion like scarcely no other...
.
Zadek directed his first opera, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, in 1983. He also directed Kurt Weill's opera, Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed in Leipzig on 9 March 1930.-Composition history:...
) at the Salzburg Festival in 1998.
Despite suffering from an illness, Zadek continued working in his later years. In 2008, he staged Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
's "Naked" at the St. Pauli Theater in Hamburg.
Zadek's last production was Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
's Major Barbara
Major Barbara (play)
Major Barbara is a three act play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907.-Setting:*London*Act I: Lady Britomart's house in Wilton Crescent*Act II: The Salvation Army shelter in West Ham...
, performed at the Schauspielhaus in Zurich in February 2009.
Following Zadek's death, Brtitish critic Michael Billington
Michael Billington
Michael Billington may refer to:* Michael Billington , British film and television actor* Michael Billington , drama critic of The Guardian* Michael Billington , author and activist in the LaRouche movement...
wrote in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
:
"Zadek was mercurial, intuitive, even populist in his approach – and the results were sometimes astonishing. Four of his shows came to the Edinburgh International festival and he always made you re-assess a play. I recall a modern-dress Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
in which Gert Voss's assimilated Shylock, even after his humiliation in the trial scene, coolly strolled off stage as if preparing to phone his broker. In 2004, Zadek also brought us a brilliantly witty, ironic Peer GyntPeer GyntPeer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
: one that suggested Ibsen anticipated Strindbergian dream-drama, Brechtian expressionism, the madhouse world of the Marat/Sade and even modern physical theatre."
Billington also wrote in the same article:
"Although Zadek made his name in Germany, he never forgot his British roots. When I went to see his Berlin production of PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
's Moonlight, he told me that he loved Pinter's work because of its origins in weekly rep and because, as he said, "it was like a combination of Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
and KafkaFranz KafkaFranz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
". But Zadek also understood Pinter's play profoundly: rarely have I seen Pinter's idea that women possess an emotional awareness denied to men so vividly expressed."
He acted in a small role in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Maria Fassbinder was a German movie director, screenwriter and actor. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.He maintained a frenetic pace in film-making...
film Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss (Veronika Voss, 1982).
He died of natural causes in Hamburg.
Awards
- Kortner Award, 1988
- Piscator Award, 1989
- Kainz Award, 1989
- Berlin Art Award, 1992
- Commandeur des Arts et des LettresOrdre des Arts et des LettresThe Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
, 1992 - Chosen "Director of the year" numerous times by Theater heute magazine
- Nestroy Award for the best stage direction (Rosmersholm, 2000) and for the best German language performance (Rosmersholm, 2000), 2001
- German Federal Cross of MeritBundesverdienstkreuzThe Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
, 2002