Michael Thalheimer

Born in 1965, director Michael Thalheimer studied acting in Bern from 1985 to 1989. Engagements subsequently took him to Mainz, Bremerhaven and Chemnitz, among other places, where he directed his own plays for the first time in 1997. After productions in Leipzig, Dresden, Freiburg and Basel, he had his breakthrough as a theatre director with Molnár's "Liliom" at the Thalia Theater Hamburg. From 2000 onwards he directed regularly there and at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, where he was head director and member of the artistic management from 2005 to 2008. He has also directed at the Residenztheater Munich, Dramaten Stockholm, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Théâtre National de la Colline Paris, Burgtheater in Vienna, the Berliner Schaubühne and the Royal Copenhagen Playhouse. Since 2017 he has been directing regularly at the Berliner Ensemble. Michael Thalheimer's productions have received numerous awards in addition to regular invitations to renowned international festivals in Europe, Asia, North and South America, including the 3sat Innovation Prize for "Liliom", the Berlin Friedrich Luft Prize and the Moscow Golden Mask for "Emilia Galotti", as well as the Vienna Nestroy Prize for "Emilia Galotti", "Elektra" and "Die Weber". Seven of his productions were invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen, including "Die Orestie" in 2007 and "Die Ratten" in 2008. In 2005 he made his debut as an opera director with Janáček's "Katja Kabanova" at the Berlin State Opera. Since then he has also staged productions at major opera houses such as the Hamburg State Opera, where he last staged Wagner's "Der fliegende Holländer" in 2022.
Michael Thalheimer's production of Verdi's "Macbeth" at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein from the 2021/22 season - like Verdi's "Otello" before it - was created as a cooperation with Opera Vlaanderen. In the 2023/24 season, his interpretations of Wagner's "Parsifal" and Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" can be seen at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.