Marthaler, Christoph

(1951- )

   Director. Marthaler began his career as a musician, playing incidental music in several German-language theaters, including those in his native Switzerland. He began directing plays in Basel and in 1993 became a house director under Frank Baumbauer in Hamburg; he later held a similar position under Frank Castorf at the Berlin Volksbühne. Marthaler was awarded several citations in the 1990s for his work, including the Europe Prize in 1998 and Theater Heutës "director of the year" in 1997 and 1999. Through the 1990s his productions were consistently invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen; he has 10 invitations to his credit. In 2001 Marthaler became intendant of the Schauspielhaus in his native Zurich; he was fired from the position in 2004, but has remained much in demand as a director since.