Martin Kusej - Director
Biography
A native of Wolfsberg (Carinthia/Austria), Martin Kusej studied German language and literature as well as sports science at the University of Graz and subsequently stage direction at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts also in Graz, where he took his degree with the production of Ultramarin by David Brett. He was assistant director at the Landestheater Salzburg and the Slovenian National Theatre in Ljubljana. The production of A Dream is a Life by Franz Grillparzer at the Schauspielhaus Graz marked the beginning of his international career.
He directed several productions (including world premieres) und worked at Burgtheater Vienna, Staatsschauspiel Munich, Theatre Klagenfurt, Deutsches Schauspielhaus and Thalia Theater Hamburg as well as at the Volksbühne Berlin. The production of Love and Intrigue by Schiller in Klagenfurt won the young directors' award of the German Academy of Performing Arts. He was in-house director at the Staatsschauspiel in Stuttgart: Herzog Theodor von Gothland by Christian Dietrich Grabbe, Clavigo by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Die Unbekannte aus der Seine by Ödön von Horvath, and in 2000 Cleansed/Gesäubert by Sarah Kane (invited to the Hannover Expo 2000, section "Theatre Forms"). His production of Tales from the Vienna Woods has been invited to the "Berlin Theatre Meeting" (Theatertreffen) taking place as part of the Berlin Festival, where he was awarded the 3SAT Innovation Award for Stage Direction.
His opera productions include Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven in Stuttgart (1998) and Al gran sole carico d’amore by Luigi Nono (1998), Salome by Richard Strauss in Graz (1999), Zürich and Verona (2000). Intensive cooperation with Nikolaus Harnoncourt for a Mozart cycle at the Salzburg Festival: Don Giovanni (2002) and La Clemenza di Tito (2003). Further opera productions were Elektra (2003), Die Zauberflöte (2007) und Genoveva (2008) at Opernhaus Zürich, Carmen (2004) at Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (2006) at Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam and Macbeth at Bavarian State Opera Munich. In preparation is The Rake’s Progress at Theater an der Wien.
From 2011, Martin Kusej will be Director of Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel Munich.
Last updated: 16.10.2008© We kindly ask you to seek our approval for any alteration or abbreviation of the biography. Thank you for your kind understanding.