Zürich
The Schweizer Theatertreffen has announced the shortlist for the 10th edition. It is made up of "particularly debatable, idiosyncratic and aesthetically or politically remarkable productions from all over Switzerland". The Schauspielhaus Zürich is represented with two productions: Border, directed by Christopher Rüping and Ödipus Tyrann, the award-winning production by Nicolas Stemann.
This shortlist of 21 productions also serves as the basis for the federal jury of theatre to select the "Swiss Theatre Production" award, with which it honors a remarkable theatre production of the past year. This award is presented as part of the Schweizer Preise Darstellende Künste, an initiative of the Federal Office of Culture (FOC).
On Wednesday, 29 March, the festival will announce the Sélection, the productions that will be shown at the 10th Schweizer Theatertreffen in Fribourg from 31 May to 4 June, 2023.
Nicolas Stemann's production Sonne, los jetzt! by Elfriede Jelinek has been selected for the 26th edition of the Autor:innentheatertage, which will take place in Berlin from 30 April to 11 May 2023. We will celebrate the Berlin premiere on 9 May. The ten selected guest performances were part of the heart of the festival at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. Three world premieres are programmed on one theatre evening: new texts by Caren Jeß, Nele Stuhler and Lukas Bärfuss open the Autor:innentheatertage. The Day of New Drama concludes the festival. The DRAMA FORUM Graz, the Dramenprozessor from Zurich, the Heidelberger Stückemarkt, the Kleist-Förderpreis Frankfurt/Oder, the course of studies for scenic writing at the UdK Berlin and other project partners are also taking part.
The Swiss actor Michael Gempart died last week at the age of almost 89. Until recently, Gempart was still on stage at the Theater Basel or the Munich Residenztheater. In one of his last roles, he played the Abbé in the Stendhal adaptation Julien – Rot und Schwarz by Lukas Bärfuss in 2020 and the ghost in Shakespeare's Hamlet directed by Robert Borgmann at the Munich Residenztheater in 2021.
Gempart was born in Winterthur in 1934 and after an apprenticeship as a commercial clerk, he studied at the Schauspielakademie Zurich, where he was trained in dance and singing. His first engagements took him to the Schauspielhaus Zürich and the Stadttheater Bern. From 1959 to 1963 he was a member of the ensemble at the Theater Basel and from 1964 to 1974 at the Munich Residenztheater. From 1982 onwards he worked freelance, appearing on stage and often in front of the camera, for example in Markus Imhoof's film Das Boot ist voll, at Vienna's Burgtheater, the Maxim Gorki Theater, the Volskbühne Berlin and the Theater Neumarkt.
Between 1994 and 2012 he appeared in numerous plays at the Schauspielhaus Zürich. For example, in Dantons Tod in 1994/95 in the role of a deputy of the National Convention or as the village priest in Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe in 1995/96. Gempart also had a close collaboration with Christoph Schlingensief. In 2000 he appeared with Schlingensief in Hamlet at the Schauspielhaus Zürich in the role of Polonius and in 2004 in Attabambi Pornoland, and most recently Gampert premiered at the Schauspielhaus Zurich in 2011 with Merlin oder Das wüste Land directed by Christian Stückl in the Schiffbau Hall.
Even at an advanced age, Gempart was active as an actor, in Kaspar Hauser und Söhne at the Theater Basel, in Salome at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin and as Doktor Alici at the Münchner Kammerspiele.