Stefan Bachmann

© Sebastian Hoppe

Born in Zurich on 1 July 1966. Studied German and General Literature Science at Zurich University from 1986 to 1988, then he jobshadowed at Zurich Schauspielhaus at the Berlin Schaubühne under Luc Bondy. He then continued his studies and took German, Theatre and Religious Sciences at the Free University of Berlin. During studies theatre work with fellow students.

In 1992 he founded Berlin’s “Theater Affekt” together with Ricarda Beilharz, Thomas Jonigk, Tom Till and Lars-Ole Walburg. The Theatre became nationally known with productions of Heinrich von Kleist’s “Penthesilea” and Goethe’s sung play “Lila”, for which the independent group received the Friedrich Luft Prize in 1995. Since 1993 directorial work at Schauspiel Bonn, the Berliner Volksbühne am Rosa Luxemburg Platz, the Neumarkt Theatre in Zurich and Hamburg’s Schauspielhaus.

At the start of the 1998/1999 season Stefan Bachmann moved to Basel Theatre as Director of Acting. He had such a brilliant start that the theatre was voted Theatre of the Year in 1999 in a survey of critics by the journal “Theater heute”. Since 2001 he has also worked as a director of operas. He did not extend his contract in Basel, which ran out at the end of the 2002/2003 season.

Since 2005, Stefan Bachmann has been working as a freelance director again, putting on most of his productions in the 2006/2007 season at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus and the Gorki Theatre in Berlin.