Christoph
Marthaler Direction

Born in Erlenbach near Zurich, Christoph Marthaler worked as a theatre musician in the 1970s and 80s. From 1988 to 1993, he worked continuously at the Theater Basel and began directing plays himself. With 'Murx den Europäer! Murx him! Murx him! Murx him! Murx ihn ab!' (Berlin, 1993), his innovative theatre language became known on German stages. This was followed by numerous productions at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, the Wiener Festwochen and repeatedly at Theater Basel. From 2000 to 2004, Marthaler was director of the Schauspielhaus Zürich, which was twice voted Theatre of the Year during this time. In 2010, he was artiste associé at the Festival D'Avignon (together with Olivier Cadiot) and held the same position at the Ruhrtriennale from 2018 to 2020. Numerous of his productions have been invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen. Marthaler's opera productions have been staged in Paris, Zurich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Madrid and at the Salzburg Festival and Bayreuth Festival, among others. In 2015, Christoph Marthaler was awarded the Golden Lion in the theatre section of the Venice Biennale for his life's work. He received the Zurich Art Prize in 2017 and the prestigious International Ibsen Prize in 2018. Marthaler's most recent productions at Theater Basel include 'Isolde's Supper' (2015), 'Der letzte Pfiff - ein Drehschwindel' (2022) and 'Der Freischütz' (2022), and in the 23/24 season he turned his attention to Monteverdi's 'L'incoronazione di Poppea'.