Ostermeier, Thomas

(1968- )

   Director. After completing studies in directing at the Ernst Busch School in Berlin, Ostermeier embarked on his career at "The Barracks," an experimental theater workshop associated with the Deutsches Theater. In 1998 he staged the German-language premiere of British playwright Mark Raven-hill's controversial Shopping and Fucking, which won him an invitation to the Berliner Theatertreffen. In the same year, he followed up that controversy with the German premiere of American playwright Richard Dresser's Below the Belt. In September 1999, Ostermeier became director of the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin. He has staged several premieres of German plays at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, including Feuergesicht (Fireface) and Parasiten (Parasites) by Marius von Mayenburg. For the Salzburg Festival, Ostermeier staged the German-language premiere of Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse's The Name, and in Edinburgh he staged Fosse's much-acclaimed English-language premiere of The Girl on the Sofa. Ostermeier has won several awards for his directing work, and in 2004 he was named an artistic associate of the Avignon Festival.