Leon Epp (29 May 1905 inVienna – 21 December 1968 inEisenstadt) was an Austrian music director, theatre director and actor.
In 1928, aged 22, Epp featured inEndangered Girls (Gefährdete Mädchen), a 1928 Austriansilentdrama, directed byHans Otto Löwenstein and starringMax Landa,Cilly Feindt andHermine Sterler.
After working as an actor inTeplitz-Schönau and on many German stages, Epp founded The Island theater in 1937. It was located at Parking 6 in Vienna, in a hall of the Palais Eugen. It opened on 20 September 1937 withPaul Claudel'sThe Guarantor. The theater featured authors such asAristophanes (Plutos and The Peace)[clarification needed],Goldoni andPergolesi (The Music Master). On 12 March 1938, the theatre was occupied by the GermanSS and closed.[1]
Epp occasionally directed the Deutsches Volkstheater (alongside directorWalter Bruno Iltz), where he also appeared as Christopher in 1938 inJohann Nestroy'sEinen Jux will er sich machen. From 1939 to 1941 Epp became partners with Rudolf Haybach, the head of The "Comedy", a theatre group based in Johannesgasse 4 (later renamed the Metro cinema). The ensemble of "Die Kömödie" includedElisabeth Epp, Helmut Janatsch, Hans Brand and a youngJosef Meinrad. By March 1940, "Die Komödie" had staged ten world premieres for a total of 241 performances and ten guest appearances. The "Comedy" opened in February 1940 with Heinrich Zerkaulen'sThe Rider under Epps' direction; he also portrayedRudolf II, "one of the most interesting and impressive theatre evenings of the season" (Weltbild). In 1941 a youngOskar Werner debuted inFranz Grillparzer'sThe Golden Fleece. In 1941, The "Comedy" suffered financial problems, and was sold to the German Labor Front. Epp was unemployed until 1944.[2]
After the war, Epp wanted to found a theater called "Die Insel", managed by the members of The "Comedy" in Johannesgasse. City Council memberViktor Matejka granted the concession and the theatre, renamed by Epp to "Die Insel in der Komödie", opened on 18 October 1945 withUncle Vanya byAnton Chekhov. The capacity was 453 seats. Regarding the theatreElisabeth Epp wrote:
The theater "Die Insel in der Komödie" is to be opened as a stage adapted to the needs of a cosmopolitan city, placing itself at the service of poetry and performing all the dramas of world literature, which for budgetary reasons are not seen on other Viennese stages does not Performance of which is particularly close to the care of the modern psychological and problematic drama, as an experimental stage for works of modern dramatic literature.[3]
Epp briefly leased the Renaissance Theater in Vienna in 1948 as an additional venue for light fare. However, the expected revenue did not appear and Epp gave the Renaissance Theater in 1949 toPaul Löwinger.[4]
Epp then staged as an independent director at theBurgtheater
From 1952 to 1968, Epp directed the Vienna Volkstheater. He staged plays by contemporary dramatists such asAlbert Camus,Friedrich Dürrenmatt,Sean O'Casey,Jean Cocteau,Thornton Wilder,Tennessee Williams,William Faulkner,Jean Anouilh,John Osborne,Heinar Kipphardt and great classical productions as well as many new Austrian literature premiers. The motto of the theatre was "It must be dared".[5]
Some of the premieres caused quite a stir, such as the staging ofJean-Paul Sartre'sThe Dirty Hands (1954/55), which the author tried to prevent with a trip to Vienna, because, in his opinion, it was outdated. In the 1962/63 season, Volkstheater ventured withMother Courage and her children byBertolt Brecht. Under the leadership ofHans Weigel andFriedrich Torberg in the so-called "Brecht Boycott " most theatres were closed. The press discussed the Volkstheater's "blockade breakers" premiere on 23 February 1963, withDorothea Neff and directed byGustav Manker, who also appeared inThe Caucasian Chalk Circle.[6]
The next season, the deputy ofRolf Hochhuth in Austrian premiere started fights in the floor. Epp interrupted the premiere in order to go on stage and announce:
Anyone attending this performance may ask themselves if he was somehow complicit in the things described here.[7]
1961 featuredJean Genet'sThe Balcony. In 1963 Genet'sThe Walls was premiered, both times in the decor of the artist Hubert Aratym. A Wedekind cycle was featured as were classics fromShakespeare toGoethe andSchiller.[8]
Epp had special interest in the Austrian folk plays ofLudwig Anzengruber,Johann Nestroy andFerdinand Raimund. featuring actorsKarl Skraup,Hans Putz, Hugo Gottschlich,Fritz Muliar,Walter Kohut, Kurt Sowinetz and Hilde Sochor. Epp staged all ofGustav Manker, who also directed plays there.Schiller'sThe Robber (1959) was a two-part simultaneous design by Manker. Austrian Modernism fromArthur Schnitzler,Ödön von Horváth,Ferdinand Bruckner andFerenc Molnár appeared. The world premiere ofHelmut Qualtinger'sThe Execution (1965) was staged by Manker.[9]
Epp discovered many talents such asNicole Heesters asGigi (1953),Elisabeth Orth [de] (1958) andElfriede Irrall [de], who triumphed in 1961 asLulu. Guest appearances were offered byKathe Dorsch as Elisabeth of England,Marianne Hoppe inStrindberg'sDream Play andHilde Krahl as Lady Macbeth andLibussa.[10]
In 1954, Epp, together with the Chamber of Workers and employees, founded the game series "Volkstheater in the outskirts", bringing productions of the Volkstheater throughout Vienna to bring "culture into the people". After Epp's death in 1968, Manker became his successor.
In 1936 Leon Epp married actress Elisabeth Epp. They had three sons. Epp is buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery (Group 40, Number 21) beside Elisabeth.[11]
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