Frank Castorf

"Retirement? I thought that thing was life long?"

>  *"I was the talented child who played and made his productions and didn't notice how the others burn themselves for this theater." - Frank Castorf on his first years as a Volksbühnen boss*
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**Frank Castorf** (born July 17, 1951 in East Berlin) is a human being who mainly stages plays. From 1992 to 2017 he was boss at the Volksbühne. During his reign the house came to fame and honour. The conflict with his successor is a topic in the farce A pile of shit.

## Life and work

#### before ∇

Castorf's father took over the family iron trade in Prenzlauer Berg, where he sold blinds and blinds. When it was no longer hip in the *PrenzlBerg* but quite expensive, Werner Castorf had to close the shop after 123 years because the rent was not paid a few times.  A few months later he died.

Frankie himself initially trained as a skilled worker at the Deutsche Reichsbahn, then served in the NVA and then studied theater studies. Like many graduates of this field of study, he first became a dramaturge. Unlike most of this profession, he then became a director and later quasi-boss at the small Anklam theater in MeckPomm, but messed up with the management of the local SED branch and was *outsourced*.  The label of the  *Enfant Terribles*  was exactly what  *in the Time fit*  and accordingly great success was hoped for in the years in which the GDR really broke up and you were thrown into the great wonderland behind the rainbow (BRD) without ever having to leave your own house .

#### ∇

His first production premiered on September 9, 1988 on the 3rd floor. Bert Neumann was already at the start as a set designer.

When he was appointed the new Volksbühnen boss, this decision caused both approval and a sensation. In fact, there were quite a few skeptics of the  *Castorf Experiment* , but they gradually fell silent and things went more and more like Geschnitten Brot for him and everyone involved. He gradually blossomed into the *Eternal Boss*  with a loyal following and might even have crowned himself emperor if at some point a young professional music producer hadn't thwarted him and gave him the power of his office after 25 years dismissed.

He himself described the last season of his reign as the most exhausting year of his life  and if you look at the effort that was made during this time to do a lot of theater again, it is surprising what the blood pressure of a human Organism can handle.

#### after ∇

His goal was, true to the opponents of Napoloeon in Spain, to leave scorched earth alone on the Platz. At least with the OST lettering and the Räuberrad it worked, even if it only worked for the last time Occupation of the house by his supporters was interrupted after a few days. Shortly after Dercon's reign began, he was still very happy that the theater was now just a *naked, dead building of striking ugliness*  .

## References

1. ↑ https://taz.de/MONTAGSINTERVIEW/!5099718/
2. ↑ https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/nachruf-auf-werner-castorf-geb-1922-bestelle-immer-doppelt-so-viel-wie-du-absetzen-koenntest/7517516.html
3. ↑ https://www.nordkurier.de/culture-and-leisure/wilde-Jahre-in-der-anklamer-theater-provinz-1523907407.html
4. ↑ Laudenbach, Peter. They would love to have vegan theater - Frank Castorf. Interviews 1996-2017. Germany, Theater der Zeit, 2018
5. ↑ In the spirit of Ivan Nagel