Angela Richter (born 1970 in

Ravensburg Ravensburg ( Swabian: ''Raveschburg'') is a city in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg. Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and an im ...

) is a German–Croatian theatre director and author.

Life and work

From 1996 to 2001 Richter was a member of the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

art group Akademie Isotrop with the artists

Jonathan Meese Jonathan Meese (born January 23, 1970 in Tokyo) is a German painter, sculptor, performance artist and installation artist based in Berlin and Hamburg. Meese's (often multi-media) works include paintings, collages, drawings and writing. He also d ...

, Abel Auer, Roberto Ohrt, Helena Huneke, Birgit Megerle and Andre Butzer. At the same time Richter studied directing with

Jürgen Flimm Jürgen Flimm (born 17 July 1941, in Gießen) is a German theater and opera director, and theater manager. After establishing himself as one of the exponents of Regietheater, Flimm was called to manage renowned theaters and festivals. His operatic ...

at the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg is one of the larger universities of music in Germany. It was founded 1950 as ''Staatliche Hochschule für Musik'' (Public college of music) on the base of the former private acting school of Annema ...

, graduating in 2001. Her work – which encompasses aspects of fine art, theatre, and

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

– has been described in the German-language press as ''

gonzo Gonzo may refer to: People * Gonzo (nickname), a list of people with the nickname * Radislav Jovanov Gonzo (born 1964), Croatian music video director Radislav Jovanov, also known as Gonzo * Matthias Röhr (born 1962), German musician whose stage ...

-theater'', with reference to the work of

Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement. He rose to prominence with the publication of '' Hell's Angels'' (1967), a book for which he s ...

. In 2006 she founded the

Fleetstreet Fleetstreet is a theatre in Hamburg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic an ...

theatre in Hamburg, which she ran until 2010. From 2013 to 2016 she was one of the four house directors at the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

National Theatre

Schauspiel Köln Schauspiel Köln is a theatre and company in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It forms together with the Cologne Opera and other houses the Bühnen der Stadt Köln (Stages of the city of Cologne). The listed building has 830 seats in th ...

. She received the 2009 Rolf Mares Theatre Award for her staging of ''Der Fall Esra'', based on the legal case that resulted in the ban on the author Maxim Biller's novel ''

Esra Esra is a common Turkish given name for females. It is also a common Arabic name. People named Esra include: Given name * Esra Battaloğlu, Turkish geneticist * Esra Bilgiç (born 1992), Turkish actress * Esra Dalfidan (born 1975), Turkish sing ...

''. Richter's staging of ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...

'', the first play by

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek (, ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New ...

, is set to premiere in September 2019 at the

Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb ( hr, Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu), commonly referred to as HNK Zagreb, is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in Zagreb. Overview The theatre evolved out of the first city theatre opened ...

Work on Internet Activism

Richter has often made work with and about

Internet activists The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

such as

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and s ...

and

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

founder

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army i ...

. In 2012 her play ''Assassinate Assange'' premiered in Hamburg, and was subsequently shown in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, Cologne and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Since then Richter has visited Assange regularly in London and has taken part in many panel discussions on the subject of his

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

, as well as contributing articles and interviews to various publications, including Der Spiegel, Monopol, and

Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

. In 2015 Richter wrote and directed the

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but m ...

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradi ...

project ''Supernerds'', which dealt with digital mass surveillance,

whistleblowing A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

and digital dissidents. ''Supernerds'' was co-produced by the national television and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

channel

WDR WDR may refer to: * Waddell & Reed (stock ticker: WDR), an American asset management and financial planning company * Walt Disney Records, an American record label of the Disney Music Group * WDR neuron, a type of neuron involved in pain signall ...

, Schauspiel Köln, and the producers Gebrueder Beetz, and included an online gaming component. The premiere of the piece took place simultaneously on German television, radio, online, and in the theatre in Cologne. The audiences of each show became part of the story, being subjected to examples of hacking and surveillance on their smartphones and laptops. The piece was based on interviews that Richter conducted with whistleblowers,

human rights lawyers Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultur ...

, hackers, and internet activists such as Julian Assange,

Daniel Ellsberg Daniel Ellsberg (born April 7, 1931) is an American political activist, and former United States military analyst. While employed by the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the '' Pen ...

(

Pentagon Papers The ''Pentagon Papers'', officially titled ''Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force'', is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States' political and military ...

), the

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collectio ...

Whistleblowers Bill Binney, Thomas Drake, and

Jesselyn Radack Jesselyn Radack (born December 12, 1970) is an American national security and human rights attorney known for her defense of whistleblowers, journalists, and hacktivists. She graduated from Brown University and Yale Law School and began her car ...

. As part of the project, and also subsequently, Richter visited Edward Snowden in Moscow. From 2015 to 2017 Richter hosted an irregular series of

conversation Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...

s with Internet activists at Berlin's

Volksbühne The Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") is a theater in Berlin. Located in Berlin's city center Mitte on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Rosa Luxemburg Square) in what was the GDR's capital. It has been called Berlin's most iconic theatre. About The Vol ...

during

Frank Castorf Frank Castorf (born 17 July 1951 in East Berlin) is a German theater director and was the artistic director of the '' Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz'' from 1992 to 2015. His work is often associated with postdramatic theatre. Biography ...

's last two seasons as

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

. Richter is a member of the

DiEM25 The Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, or DiEM25, is a pan-European political movement founded in 2016 by a group of Europeans, including former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and Croatian philosopher Srećko Horvat. The movement was ...

Advisory Panel.

Writing

A selection of Richter's interviews with Internet activists was published in the book ''Supernerds – Conversations with Heroes'' by Alexander Verlag Berlin in German and English. In 2018 she co-authored ''Women, Whistleblowing, Wikileaks'' together with Sarah Harrison and Renata Ávila. She writes regularly for the German newspaper

Der Freitag ''Der Freitag'' (English: ''The Friday'', stylized in its logo as ''der Freitag'') is a German weekly newspaper established in 1990. It is published in Rhenish format. The place of publication is Berlin. Its publisher and editor-in-chief is Jako ...

Personal life

Richter lives between Berlin and

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranea ...

with the German actor Malte Sundermann, their two children, and her son from her marriage to the painter Daniel Richter. Richter is of Croatian descent.

Productions (selected)

* 1999 ''Revolution Evolution Exekution'' with ''Akademie Isotrop'' at

Kunstverein Bremen The Kunsthalle Bremen is an art museum in Bremen, Germany. It is located close to the Bremen Old Town on the "Culture Mile" (german: Kulturmeile). The Kunsthalle was built in 1849, enlarged in 1902 by architect Eduard Gildemeister, and expanded ...

* 2000 ''Bericht für meine Akademie'' based on ''

Der grüne Kakadu ''Der grüne Kakadu'' is a one act grotesque by Arthur Schnitzler. It was written in 1898 and premiered on 1 March 1899, together with his plays ''Paracelsus'' and ''Die Gefährtin'', at the Vienna Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:" ...

'' by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. Biography Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarch ...

, as part of the festival ''Die Wüste Lebt'' at

Hamburger Kammerspiele The Hamburg Kammerspiele (German: ''Hamburger Kammerspiele'') is a private theatre in Rotherbaum, Hamburg, Germany, in the borough of Eimsbüttel Eimsbüttel () is one of the seven boroughs (Bezirke) of Hamburg, Germany. In 2020 the population ...

n * 2001 ''Versaut'' based on ''Truismes'' by

Marie Darrieussecq Marie Darrieussecq (born 3 January 1969, Bayonne) is a French writer. She is also a translator, and has practised as a psychoanalyst. Her books explore the unspoken and abandoned territories in literature. Her work is dense, marked by a constant ...

Kampnagel Kampnagel is a theatre in Hamburg, Germany. It is Germany's biggest independent production venue for the performing arts. It is based on the premises of a former mechanical engineering factory in Winterhude, founded in 1865. History Since 198 ...

in Hamburg, May 2001 * 2001 ''Alles wird in Flammen stehen'' based on texts by

Dirk von Lowtzow Dirk von Lowtzow (born 21 March 1971) is a German musician. He has been the singer and guitarist with German rock band Tocotronic Tocotronic is a German rock band founded in 1993 (see 1993 in music). Similar to Blumfeld or Die Sterne they ...

as part of the Autorenfestival ''Dramatik 01'' at

Schauspiel Hannover Hanover Drama (german: Schauspiel Hannover) is a theatre company in Hanover, the state capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The company is resident at the Hanover Playhouse () situated approximately east of Hanover Opera House, and the situated ...

* 2003 ''L’Amérique'' at Deutsches Schauspielhauses Hamburg with ''Les Robespierres'' and

Melissa Logan Chicks on Speed is a feminist music and fine art ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997, after members Australian Alex Murray-Leslie and American Melissa Logan met at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Though Chicks on Speed reached cult status th ...

* 2003 ''Lear – Ungehorsam, unfreiwillig'' after

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

at Sophiensäle Berlin * 2004 ''Jetlag #1'' as part of ''X-Wohnungen'', at Raumprojekt

Hebbel am Ufer The Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) is a theater and international performance center based in Berlin. It was founded by combining three theaters in Kreuzberg, Berlin: Hebbel Theater (now called HAU1), Theater am Halleschen Ufer (theater at Hallesches Ufer) ( ...

* 2005 ''Magic Afternoon'' by Wolfgang Bauer at

in Hamburg * 2006 ''Ich gegen mich'' at

Hamburg * 2006 ''Verschwör dich gegen dich'' based on

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...

at Sophiensäle Berlin and

Deichtorhallen The Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany, is one of Europe's largest art centers for contemporary art and photography. The two historical buildings dating from 1911 to 1913 are iconic in style, with their open steel-and-glass structures. Their archi ...

in Hamburg * 2006 ''It's lonely at the top'' as part of the event ''Der Berg'' at Palace of the Republic, Berlin * 2006 ''Kennen Sie diesen Mann'' at

Hamburg * 2007 ''Der Kirschgarten'' by Anton Tschechow at

in Hamburg * 2008 ''Jeff Koons'' by

Rainald Goetz Rainald Maria Goetz (born 24 May 1954, in Munich) is a German author, playwright and essayist. Biography After studying History and Medicine in Munich and earning a degree (PhD and M.D) in each, he soon concentrated on his writing. His first p ...

Berlin * 2008 ''X-Wohnungen'' at

Berlin * 2009 ''Der Fall Esra'', based on the banned novel ''

'' by Maxim Biller at

in Hamburg * 2009 ''X-Wohnungen'' for

Theater der Welt Theater der Welt (''Theatre of the World'') is an international theatre festival in Germany initiated by the International Theatre Institute. The main objective is to present theatre productions from all over the world. It became triennial in 1993 ...

* 2010 ''Vive la Crise'' at Garage X Theater Petersplatz in Vienna * 2010 ''Tod in Theben'' by Jon Fosse at

Salzburger Festspiele The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

n * 2010 ''Liebe Deinen Untergang'' at

Theater Oberhausen Theater Oberhausen is a theatre in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW () ...

* 2011 ''

Berghain Berghain () is a nightclub in Berlin, Germany. It is named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain in Berlin, and is a short walk from Berlin Ostbahnhof main line railway station.

Boogie Woogie'' at

Berlin * 2011 ''Leiwand Empire'' at Garage X Vienna * 2012 ''Assassinate

Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...

'' at

, Hamburg * 2013 '' Kippenberger! Ein Exzess des Moments'' at

* 2013 ''Assassinate

– Reloaded'' at

* 2014 ''Brain and Beauty. Eine Suche nach dem Gesicht der Zukunft'' at

*2015 ''Supernerds'' at

*2016 ''Silk Road, Ein Ausflug auf die tote Seitenstraße des Darknet'' at

*2019 ''Antigone'' by

References

Publications

* Angela Richter, "Legenden: Lunch mit dem Staatsfeind", in '' Der Spiegel'', H. 28 2011, S. 104–106. * Angela Richter, "Sind Nerds die neue Avantgarde?", in Monopol – Magazin für Kunst und Leben February 2014, S. 70–73. * Angela Richter, "Inside Julian Assange", ''

'' Germany, H. 5 2014, S. 91–97. * Angela Richter, "Interview mit Joseph Farrell", in ''REVUE'' – Magazine for the Next Society, H. 15 2014, S. 42–49. *Richter, Angela (2015). ''Supernerds'' ''- Conversations with Heroes''.

Alexander Verlag Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. . *Ávila, Renata; Harrison, Sarah; Richter, Angela (2017). ''Women, Whistleblowing, WikiLeaks: A Conversation''.

OR Books OR Books is a New York City-based independent publishing house founded by John Oakes and Colin Robinson in 2009. The company sells digital and print-on-demand books directly to the customer and focuses on creative promotion through traditional med ...

. .

External links

*
Fleetstreet HamburgHomepage of Akademie Isotrop

Interview with ''Dare Magazin''

Interview with Sandra and Kerstin Grether for ''Intro''

* ttp://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/a-773714.html Essay by Angela Richter about meeting Julian Assange
Frieze Magazine blog about ''Assassinate Assange''

Panel Discussion between Angela Richter, Jacob Appelbaum, Jennifer Robinson, and Joseph Farrell about Assassinate Assange on Youtube

Angela Richter at Barbarella AgencyOR Books author's pageAngela Richter on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Angela 1970 births Living people People from Ravensburg German documentary film directors German women film directors Film directors from Baden-Württemberg