Michael Thalheimer

Born in 1965 near Frankfurt am Main. He studied acting in Bern. In 1997, he directed for the first time at Theater Chemnitz. After further productions in Leipzig, Dresden, Freiburg, and Basel, he achieved his breakthrough as a director with Franz Molnár’s »Liliom« at the Thalia Theater Hamburg, which was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen in 2001. From 2005 to 2008, he served as Lead Director and was a member of the Artistic Directorate at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. His directing work has also taken him to the Thalia Theater, the Residenztheater Munich, Dramaten Stockholm, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Théâtre National de la Colline Paris, the Burgtheater Vienna, the Berliner Ensemble, and the Royal Theatre Copenhagen. Since 2005, he has also directed numerous opera productions, including at the Berlin State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Deutsche Oper Düsseldorf, Stuttgart State Opera, Zurich Opera House, and the Bavarian State Opera Munich. In addition to regular invitations to international festivals in Europe, Asia, and North and South America, his work has received numerous awards, including the 3sat Innovation Award, the Berlin Friedrich Luft Prize, the Moscow Golden Mask twice, the Vienna Nestroy Prize three times, and seven invitations to the Berlin Theatertreffen. In May 2026, he will direct »Penthésilée« at the Comédie-Française in Paris.