Ignaz Kirchner | |
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.jpg) Kirchner acting, in Tolstoy'sThe Power of Darkness at theAkademietheater, in 2015 | |
| Born | Hanns-Peter Kirchner-Wierichs (1946-07-13)13 July 1946 Wuppertal, Germany |
| Died | 26 September 2018(2018-09-26) (aged 72) Vienna, Austria |
| Education | Schauspielschule Bochum |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, director |
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Ignaz Kirchner (bornHanns-Peter Kirchner-Wierichs; 13 July 1946 – 26 September 2018)[1] was a German actor who made a career on German-speaking stages, especially at Vienna'sBurgtheater where he played for 30 years. Acharacter actor, he worked with leading stage directors. He often played oppositeGert Voss, both in classical drama such as Shakespeare'sAntonio, with Voss as Shylock, and asJago, with Voss as Othello, and especially in black comedies, such as Goldberg in Tabori'sDie Goldberg-Variationen (with Voss as Mr. Jay), and inNeil Simon'sThe Sunshine Boys, Beckett'sEndspiel and Genet'sDie Zofen. Kirchner and Voss were namedSchauspielerpaar des Jahres twice, in 1992 and 1998.
Born inWuppertal, Kirchner was raised from age ten in a Jesuit boarding school inVorarlberg, Austria.[2] He later chose the name ofIgnatius of Loyola as his stage name. He first was an apprentice in a book shop, and then trained in acting at theSchauspielschule Bochum.[1] He made his stage debut in 1970, when he was still at university, inRoger Vitrac'sDer Coup von Trafalgar staged byAlfred Kirchner.[2] The actor played in 1973 and 1974 at theFreie Volksbühne Berlin [de], participating in two productions byWilfried Minks [de]. In 1974 he moved on to Stuttgart, on an invitation byClaus Peymann [de], where he remained until 1978. He then worked forTheater Bremen, where he had his greatest success in the title role of Shakespeare'sHamlet, directed in 1980 byJürgen Gosch [de].[1]
From 1982 to 1986, Kirchner was a member of theMünchner Kammerspiele, where he worked with directors such asDieter Dorn,Ernst Wendt [de] andThomas Langhoff [de].[1] There he metGeorge Tabori, with whom he would later collaborate at theBurgtheater in Vienna.[2] In the 1983/84 season, he appeared at theSchauspiel Köln as the Duke in Marivaux'sDer Streit, directed byBenjamin Korn [de], also as Lopachin in Chekhov'sDer Kirschgarten, directed byJürgen Flimm, and as Estragon in Beckett'sWarten auf Godot, directed by Gosch.[3]
In 1987, Kirchner became a member of the Burgtheater, where Peymann was nowIntendant.[4] His first role was as Schlomo Herzl in the premiere of Tabori'sMein Kampf.[1] Further roles included in 1988 the title roleÖdipus, Tyrann by Sophocles andHeiner Müller, directed byMatthias Langhoff [de],[1] and Antonio in Shakespeare'sDer Kaufmann von Venedig. In 1990, he played Doctor Lvov in Chekhov'sIvanov, staged byPeter Zadek, and Jago with Tabori. He and his partner on stage,Gert Voss, were awarded theActor Duo of the Year (Schauspielerpaar des Jahres) prize by the trade magazinetheater heute in 1991 for the roles as Mr. Jay and Goldberg in Tabori's black comedyDie Goldberg-Variationen.[1] The two actors had first played antagonists in classical drama, such as Shylock and Antonio, and Othello and Jago.[1][5] The paper wrote: "Wie Shylock und Antonio, wie Othello und Jago sind auch Mr. Jay und Goldberg ein sadomasochistisches Männerpaar – eine Kombination wie Herr und Knecht, Vater und Sohn, Laurel und Hardy." (Like Shylock and Antonio, and Othello and Jago, Mr. Jay and Goldberg are also a sadomasochistic male couple, a combination like master and servant, father and son, andLaurel and Hardy.)[6][7] The two later played together inNeil Simon'sThe Sunshine Boys (2003), Beckett'sEndspiel and Genet'sDie Zofen.[1][6] In 1992, Kirchner appeared as Macduff in Shakespeare'sMacbeth, directed by Peymann. He performed solo programs such asWilhelm Reich'sRede an den kleinen Mann[8] and a series recitingRobert Walser's novels.[9]
In the 1992/93 season, Kirchner moved to theDeutsches Theater Berlin,[1] where he played in Ostrovsky'sDer Wald, staged by Thomas Langhoff, and Sosias in Kleist'sAmphitryon [de], staged by Gosch. He then moved to the HamburgThalia Theater, appearing in 1995 as the Doctor in Schnitzler'sDas weite Land [de] directed by Flimm, in 1996 Zettel in Shakespeare'sEin Sommernachtstraum with directorJens-Daniel Herzog, and the title role of Molière'sTartuffe, again with Flimm.[1]
From 1997, Kirchner was back at the Burgtheater.[1] He played in 1998 Clov in Beckett'sEndspiel alongside Voss as Hamm,[6] staged by Tabori in a production that was invited to theBerliner Theatertreffen. For this performance Kirchner and Voss won again the awardActor Duo of the Year.[9] In 1999 he appeared as Schigolch in Wedekind'sLulu, staged byAndreas Kriegenburg [de].[6] He played Solange inDie Zofen, directing himself with Voss and his wifeUrsula Voss, and Dr. Dorn in Chekhov'sDie Möwe withLuc Bondy, both in 2000. A year later, he appeared as Sandperger inKarl Schönherr'sGlaube und Heimat withMartin Kušej, and a supervisor and a policeman inRoberto Zucco byBernard-Marie Koltès withKlaus Michael Grüber. In 2002, he appeared as Uta-Napishti in the premiere ofRaoul Schrott'sGilgamesh withTheu Boermans [de], and as Richard in the Austrian premiere ofThomas Bernhard'sElisabeth II [de] with Thomas Langhoff.[10] He performed again solo programs such as Walser'sDer Spaziergang[1] and Bernhard'sDer Stimmenimitator andMinetti. From 2005, he played in a Burgtheater production ofKlaus Pohl [de]'sDer Anatom at the Anatomischer Saal der Bildenden Künste, the play's only role.[11] He appeared at theSalzburg Festival in the speaking role Samiel in Weber's operaDer Freischütz in 2005, staged byFalk Richter.[12]
The major role of Fürst Bolkonskyi in a dramatization at the Burgtheater of Tolstoy's novelKrieg und Frieden[1] won him a nomination for theNestroy Prize in the category "best leading role" in 2010. In 2011, Kirchner played there Pozzo inWarten auf Godot, staged byMatthias Hartmann [de].[3][9] In the years 2012 to 2014, he worked there withRené Pollesch,Frank Castorf,Jan Bosse [de] andAntú Romero Nunes [de][1] and pursued other series of readings, from 2010Fernando Pessoa'sBuch der Unruhe[1] and Musil'sDer Mann ohne Eigenschaften.[9][11]
Kirchner died on 26 September 2018 after a long illness.[1][13]
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