Robert Lehniger (born in 1974) is a German theatre director and video artist.

Life and work

Robert Lehniger was born in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

in 1974. He studied ' at the

Bauhaus University The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is a university located in Weimar, Germany, and specializes in the artistic and technical fields. Established in 1860 as the Great Ducal Saxon Art School, it gained collegiate status on 3 June 1910. In 1919 the s ...

and was an assistant director at the theatre in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

in 2000–2002. Since then he has worked as an independent director throughout the German, Austrian and Swiss theatre landscape. He is known for his uses of video in combination with stage performance, bridging the gap between theatre and cinema. His productions include a 2008 "remake" of

Friedrich Hebbel Christian Friedrich Hebbel (18 March 1813 – 13 December 1863) was a German poet and dramatist. Biography Hebbel was born at Wesselburen in Dithmarschen, Holstein, the son of a bricklayer. He was educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneum ...

's Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge for the

Schauspiel Frankfurt The Schauspiel Frankfurt is the municipal theatre company for plays in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is part of Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt. History In the late 1770s the theatre principal Abel Seyler was based in Frankfurt, and established ...

, a 2010 adaptation of

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

's film ''

Weekend The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...

'' for the

Theater am Neumarkt The Theater am Neumarkt () or by its present official name Theater Neumarkt is a Theater (structure), theatre in the Swiss German language, German-speaking Switzerland situated at Neumarkt, Zürich. It is part of the building complex ''Bilgeriturm' ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and a 2012 adaptation of

Christian Kracht Christian Kracht (; born 29 December 1966) is a Swiss author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. Early life and education Kracht was born in Saanen in the Canton of Bern. Kracht's father, Christian Kracht Sr., was chie ...

's novel ''

Faserland ''Faserland'' is the debut novel by Christian Kracht, published in 1995. It is considered to have triggered the new wave of German pop literature. It is the swan song of the generation of the 80s, whose characteristics are so carefully described ...

'' for the

Schauspiel Hannover Hanover Drama () 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 approximately west-southw ...

. Since 2016, he has made a series of productions for the

Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus The is a theatre building and company in Düsseldorf. The present building with two major auditoria was designed by the architect and built between 1965 and 1969. It opened in 1970. History The theatre dates back to 1747 when during the ...

in a format he calls "to go", where he has staged German classics such as ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'', ''

Nathan the Wise ''Nathan the Wise'' (original German title: , ) is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing from 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. It was never performed during Lessing's lifetime and was first performed in 1783 at the Döbbelinsches ...

'' and '' The Maid of Orleans'' at various locations around

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. From 2019 to 2022, he was professor of acting and head of study program at the

Cours Florent The Cours Florent is a private drama school in Paris, France, established in 1967 by French theater actor François Florent. The school's facilities are located on three sites in the 19th arrondissement of Paris: Rue Archereau, Rue Mathis, and ...

in Berlin and has been Principal of the

MetFilm School MetFilm School (MFS) is a private film school headquartered at Ealing Studios in London, United Kingdom. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as short courses in filmmaking, screenwriting, and related disciplines. The sch ...

in Berlin since September 2022. In 2021, his production ''Corpus Delicti'' based on the novel by

Juli Zeh Juli Zeh (, Julia Barbara Finck, née Zeh; born 30 June 1974) is a German writer and judge. She is known for novels such as '' The Method'' (2009), '' Unterleuten'' (2016) and '' About People'' (2021). Early life and education Juli Zeh is the da ...

at the

Deutsches Theater Berlin The Deutsches Theater is a theater in Berlin, Germany. It was built in 1850 as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, after Frederick William IV of Prussia. Located on Schumann Street (Schumannstraße), the Deutsches Theater consists of two adj ...

was invited to the

Ruhrfestspiele Ruhrfestspiele (Ruhr Festival) in Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is one of the oldest theatre festivals in Europe. Founded after World War II, the festival is a major annual cultural event for the Ruhr area. It always starts on ...

and to the Schäxpir theatre festival for young audiences in Linz. He was stage director for the award show for the European Film Awards 2023 in Berlin.

Productions (selection)

* 2005, Schauspiel Frankfurt: ''God save Amerika'' by Bljana Srbljanovic * 2009, Schauspiel Hannover: '' The Dreamers'' after the novel by

Gilbert Adair Gilbert Adair (29 December 19448 December 2011) was a Scottish novelist, poet, film critic, and journalist.Stuart Jeffries and Ronald BerganObituary: Gilbert Adair ''The Guardian'', 9 December 2011. He was critically most famous for the "fien ...

* 2013,

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

: ''Der Ring: Next Generation'' by

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

and Alexandra Holtsch * 2018,

: ''Nathan (to go)'' by

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...

* 2022,

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, ...

: O''n Connection'' by

Kae Tempest Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest) is an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright. At the age of 16, Tempest was accepted into the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. In 2013, he w ...

* 2023, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus: ''The Maid of Orleans (to go)'' ''by''

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehniger, Robert 1974 births Living people German theatre directors German video artists People from Weimar