Kolja Schallenberg (born April 1984) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Career

Born in

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Kolja studied classical singing at the Musical school in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

. He graduated in cultural and media management from

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg is one of the larger College or university school of music, universities of music in Germany. It was founded in 1950 as ''Staatliche Hochschule für Musik'' (Public college of music) on the base of t ...

. He studied Theatre Directing at

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. Mountview Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting, musical theatre and actor musicians ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, led by Peter James. He also attended courses in adult education at

Technische Universität Kaiserslautern Technical University of Kaiserslautern (German: ''Technische Universität Kaiserslautern'', also known as TU Kaiserslautern or TUK) was a public research university in Kaiserslautern, Germany. On January 1, 2023, the university was merged wit ...

. Furthermore, he an attended to the Masterclass in Directing at the

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse first built in 1599 for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays. Like the original, it is located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Southwark, Lon ...

. From 2002, Kolja has been involved in a number of theatrical productions across Germany as associate director: Konzertdirektion Landgraf, Stage Entertainment Germany, Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen and Thalia Theater Hamburg, just to mention a few. During this period, he collaborated with some notable personalities such as

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda ...

, Prof. Hermann Schmidt-Rahmer, Euro Voices, Laith Al Deen and many more. In 2006, Kolja debuted as director with "the Show must go on" at Schauspielhaus Dortmund, followed by "Frühstück bei Goethe" at The Staatstheater,

Nürnberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany. ...

, "Alles muss raus" and "24 Stunden - LebensTräume" at

Schauspielhaus Bochum The Schauspielhaus Bochum is one of the notable drama theatres in Germany. It is located on Königsallee in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, ...

. For his work, Kolja received multiple invites to festivals and awards: der Literaturwettbewerb Dortmund, das

Fringe Festival Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fr ...

Hamburg, K15-Festival and was nominated for best director at the IV. international directors festival. In 2014, he took the role of artistic director and he is co-responsible for the highly regarded spectacular productions shown all over the world on board of

AIDA Cruises AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Costa Crociere S.p.A., which in turn belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc. Based in Rostock, Germany, AIDA Cruises caters primaril ...

, the German arm of

Carnival Cruises Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...

. Since 2016, he is the artistic director of Transparence Theatre - Transgender on Stage.

Theatre

As Director (Notable works)

* ''The Show must go on.'' Revue. 2006 (with texts by Udo Grashoff; world premiere Theater Dortmund) * ''Ein Gespräch im Hause Stein über den abwesenden Herrn von Goethe.'' 2006 (by Peter Hacks; Theater Dortmund) * ''Shark Kiss.'' 2007 (by Gerhard Meister; German premiere Theater Dortmund) * ''Über die Schädlichkeit des Nikotins.'' 2007 (by Anton P. Tschechow; Theater Dortmund) * ''Frühstück bei Goethe.'' Collage. 2008 (with original texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; Staatstheater Nürnberg) * ''Alles muss raus!'' Lyrik, Prosa, Szenen und Musik aus allen Epochen. 2008 (Staatstheater Nürnberg) * ''24 Stunden – Lebensträume''. 2009 (world premiere Schauspielhaus Bochum; invited to K15-Festival) * ''Die Bakchen.'' 2009 (by Euripides; Sprechwerk Hamburg; invited to IV. international Directorsfestival * ''Der Menschenfeind''. (by Molière; Monsuntheater Hamburg) 2009. Reopening in 2012. * ''Stücke Schießen.'' New Writers. New Texts. New Plays. 2009–2011 (Theater Liga Hamburg/Kulturhaus III&70) * ''Die Signatur des Pelikans''. A Strindberg Project. 2010 (Theater Liga Hamburg/ Fleetstreet) * ''Meine tolle Scheidung.'' 2010 (by Geraldine Aron; Theater Liga Hamburg/ Galeria Kaufhof Dortmund) * ''Samsara - The Circle of Life.'' 2015 (by Timo Wuerz & Kolja Schallenberg;

) * ''Fernando Montano presents Hollywood Classics.'' 2017 (by Kolja Schallenberg & Fernando Montano; Hippodrome London) * ''Mary Stuart - The Musical.'' 2017 (by Kolja Schallenberg, music by Paul Glaser; Karamel Klub)

As Writer (Notable works)

* – aufgeführt am Theater Dortmund * – Uraufführung am Theater Dortmund * – world premiere at Schauspielhaus Bochum; invited to K15-Festival * – Institut für Kultur- und Medienmanagement, Hochschule für Musik- und Theater Hamburg * * – world premier on

AIDAblu ''AIDAblu'' is a ''Sphinx''-class cruise ship, operated by the German cruise line AIDA Cruises. ''AIDAblu'' is the seventh ship in the cruise line. The vessel was delivered by Meyer Werft on 4 February 2010. She is a sister ship to '' AIDAdiva'' ...

in July 2015

Awards

* Special Award for best play at 7. Dortmunder Literaturwettbewerb (2002) for ''Erzähler oder Konstruktive Kritik''

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schallenberg, Kolja German theatre directors German contemporary artists 1984 births Living people