Thomas Ostermeier

Thomas Ostermeier (born 3 September 1968, Soltau, West Germany) is a German theatre director. He currently mainly works for the Schaubühne.

Ostermeier began his theatrical career in 1990 acting under director Einar Schleef, one of his major inspirations, in his Faust project at Berlin’s Hochschule für Künste. After the Faust project concluded in 1991, Ostermeier began studying directing at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin where in 1992 he met his mentor Manfred Karge. From 1993 to 1994 Ostermeier acted as Karge’s assistant director and also acted in Weimar and at the Berliner Ensemble. In 1996 Ostermier was asked to take over as artistic director for the Barracke at the Deutsches Theater, an offer he attributes to his production of a play by the Russian symbolist Alexander Blok at Ernst Busch, which was seen by the Barracke’s then chief dramaturg.

Ostermeier brought dramaturg Jens Hillje and designer Stefan Schmidke, both of whom he continues to work with, to the Barracke. The three created a five-year programme aiming to mirror reality and dealing with the themes of sex, drugs, and criminality. During his time at the Barracke from 1996 to 1999, Ostermeier began developing the aesthetic he is known for today. Early in his career Ostermeier identified the major problem of German theatre as too much decoration and celebration of celebrity. He rebelled against this aesthetic, embracing the “intimate and violent” psychological realism emerging among young British playwrights like Sarah Kane and Mark Ravenhill. These British playwrights where inspired by their difficult social situations, making their plays more interesting and inspiring for Ostermeier than the work of their German counterparts. Ostermeier was responsible for bringing these new in-yer-face dramas to Germany, thus giving the playwrights international attention, and inspiring young German dramatists, such as Marius von Mayenburg, to create similar dramas. The 1998 production of Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking won Ostermeier international attention and an invitation to the Berliner Theatertreffen as well as recognition as the enfant terrible of German theatre.

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