Alexander Lang

{{Short description|German actor and stage director (1941–2024)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Alexander Lang | image = Alexander Lang (1b).jpg | alt = Publicity shot in dramatic style, of young, fresh-faced actor, looking upwards and apparently speaking. He has fairly short, auburn hair, in boyish fashion. | caption = Alexander Lang, {{circa}} 1970 | image_size = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1941|09|24|df=y}} | birth_place = Erfurt, Gau Thuringia, Germany | death_date = {{death date and age|2024|5|31|1941|9|24|df=y}} | death_place = Berlin, Germany | education = National Theatre School | occupation = {{ubl| Actor | Theatre director }} | organizations = {{ubl| Deutsches Theater | Thalia Theater | Schillertheater}} | spouse = Annette Reber | children = 3 }}

'''Alexander Lang''' (24 September 1941 – 31 May 2024) was a German actor and stage director. He began his career, first as an actor, in East Berlin, at the Maxim Gorki Theater, the Berliner Ensemble from 1967, and the Deutsches Theater from 1969 where he played leading roles and then moved to stage direction.

Lang was director at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg from 1988. He worked as a guest at theatres and festivals in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands; he was invited three times to direct at the Comédie-Française in Paris.

Lang was regarded as an influential director, especially known for productions of works from the German classical period by Goethe, Schiller, Lessing and Kleist among others, with "a new, authentic approach".<ref name="Stern" /> His most famous film role was the philosopher Ralph in Konrad Wolf's 1980 ''Solo Sunny''.

== Life and career == Lang was born in Erfurt, Germany, on 24 September 1941;<ref name="Akademie">{{cite web |url=https://www.adk.de/de/akademie/sektionen/darstellende-kunst/mitglieder.htm?we_objectID=51344 |title=Alexander Lang |work=Academy of Arts, Berlin |language=de |access-date=4 June 2024 |date=2024 |archive-date=7 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607160225/https://www.adk.de/de/akademie/sektionen/darstellende-kunst/mitglieder.htm?we_objectID=51344 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Munzinger">{{cite web |url=https://www.munzinger.de/register/portrait/biographien/Alexander%20Lang/00/18473 |title=Alexander Lang |work=Munzinger Archiv |language=de |access-date=4 June 2024 |date=June 2024 |archive-date=7 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607160112/https://www.munzinger.de/register/portrait/biographien/Alexander%20Lang/00/18473 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Renk">{{cite web |url=http://bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363%3B-1424.html?ID=2003 |last=Renk |first=Aure|title=Lang, Alexander * 24.9.1941 Schauspieler, Regisseur |publisher=Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur: Biographische Datenbanken |language=de |access-date=22 June 2015 |archive-date=24 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624115459/http://bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363%3B-1424.html?ID=2003 |url-status=live}}</ref> His father was an architect. He attended the {{ill|Humboldt-Schule, Erfurt|de|Humboldt-Schule (Erfurt)|lt=Humboldt-Schule}} there.<ref name="Renk" /> In 1961 he embarked on an apprenticeship as a sign and poster designer in 1961.<ref name="Munzinger" /> From 1962 Lang worked as a stage technician at the Theater Erfurt.<ref name="Nachtkritik">{{cite news |url=https://www.nachtkritik.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23876:regisseur-alexander-lang-ist-tot&catid=126:meldungen-k |title=Der Regisseur Alexander Lang ist tot |work=Nachtkritik |language=de |access-date=4 June 2024 |date=31 May 2024 |archive-date=7 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607160230/https://www.nachtkritik.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23876:regisseur-alexander-lang-ist-tot&catid=126:meldungen-k |url-status=live }}</ref> He then studied from 1963 to 1966 the State Theatre School in East Berlin,<ref name="Akademie" /> together with Jenny Gröllmann and Renate Krößner.<ref name="Munzinger" /><ref name="Nachtkritik" /><ref name="BS" />

=== Acting === During his final year of study, Lang was the narrator in the play ''Der Schuhu und die fliegende Prinzessin'' by Peter Hacks.<ref name="BS">{{Cite web |url=http://www.berliner-schauspielschule.de/lang.htm |title=Alexander Lang wird Regisseur |access-date=22 June 2015 |archive-date=10 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510161052/http://www.berliner-schauspielschule.de/lang.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> He went to work for {{ill|Wolfram Krempel|de}} at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin in 1966,<ref name="Renk" /><ref name="BS" /> moved soon to the Berliner Ensemble in 1967, and to the Deutsches Theater in 1969,<ref name="Munzinger" /><ref name="Nachtkritik" /> where he built his reputation as an actor.<ref name="Renk" />

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1983-0926-023, Berlin, Deutsches Theater, Zuschauerraum.jpg|thumb|Hall of Deutsches Theater]] His first major role there was Ferdinand in Schiller's ''Kabale und Liebe'' in 1972,<ref name="BS" /> and his pure unconditional passion divided the critics; some were enthusiastic while others thought that after Brecht, emotions on stage were embarrassingly private.<ref name="Decker">{{cite news |last=Decker |first=Kerstin |title=Alexander Lang zum 80.: Er zeigte einer ganzen Generation, was Theater sein kann |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/er-zeigte-einer-ganzen-generation-was-theater-sein-kann-4278934.html |date=24 September 2021 |newspaper=Der Tagesspiegel |access-date=5 June 2024 |language=de }}</ref> He then played Paul Bauch in Volker Braun's ''Die Kipper'' in 1973, Caliban in Shakespeare's ''The Tempest'' in 1974.<ref name="BS" /> He played the title role in Kleist's ''Der Prinz von Homburg'' in 1975, which was regarded as an extroardiny portrayal of a Prussion officer who misses happiness for duty, directed by Andreas Dresen.<ref name="Nachtkritik" /> Lang appeared in the title role in Heiner Müller's ''Philoktet'' in 1977.<ref name="BS"/><ref name="Renk" /> He appeared in the title role in the monumental production of Goethe's Faust II, staged in 1983 by {{ill|Friedo Solter|de}}, alongside Dieter Mann as Mephisto.<ref name="Spiegel 1984">{{cite news |title=Vom Fiasko zu Fiesko |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13508864.html |date=12 March 1984 |volume=11/1984 |publisher=Der Spiegel |access-date=22 June 2015 |archive-date=22 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622195405/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13508864.html |url-status=live |language=de}}</ref><ref name="Spiegel 1987">{{cite news|title=Ich wollte nicht weg |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13524648.html |date=2 November 1987 |volume=45/1987 |publisher=Der Spiegel |access-date=22 June 2015 |archive-date=22 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622195412/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13524648.html |url-status=live |language=de }}</ref>

Lang's film and television appearances were relatively infrequent, including a prominent role, the philosopher Ralph in Konrad Wolf's 1980 film ''Solo Sunny'', alongside Krößner,<ref name="Nachtkritik" /> and the title role in {{ill|Peter Vogel (director)|de|Peter Vogel (Regisseur)|lt=Peter Vogel}}'s television adaptation of Stephan Hermlin's short story ''Der Leutnant Yorck von Wartenburg'' in 1981.<ref name="Renk" />

=== Directing === Lang began directing drama productions at Deutsches Theater in the late 1970s; when the directors of ''Philoktet'' opposed his ideas for the title role and resigned in 1977, Lang and his colleagues {{ill|Christian Grashof|de}} and {{ill|Roman Kaminski|de}} took over and presented the play as a teamwork.<ref name="Decker" />

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-W0519-0028, Berlin, Paryla, Katja cropped.jpg|thumb|Actress Katja Paryla, also Lang's partner]] Actors in Lang's ensemble included also {{ill|Margit Bendokat|de}}, Michael Gwisdek, {{ill|Dieter Montag|de}} and Katja Paryla.<ref name="Nachtkritik" /> He directed ''Horribilicribrifax'' by Andreas Gryphius in 1978 and Ernst Toller's ''Der entfesselte Wotan'' in 1979.<ref name="Renk" /><ref name="BS" /> He staged Shakespeare's ''Ein Sommernachtstraum'' in 1980, with Bendokat, Paryla, Kaminski and Mann. In Büchner's ''Dantons Tod'' in 1981, he let Grashof play both Danton and Robespierre, showing for the first time on a GDR stage that the revolution ate its children.<ref name="Decker" /> Lang directed Heinrich Mann's ''Traurige Geschichte von Friedrich dem Großen'' in 1982, Brecht's ''Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe'' in 1983 and Christoph Hein's ''Wahre Geschichte des Ah Q'', both in 1983.<ref name="BS" /> After Dieter Mann became director of the theatre in 1984,<ref name="Spiegel 1984" /> Lang directed Goethe's ''Iphigenie auf Tauris'', with Paryla in the title role, and Grabbe's ''{{ill|Herzog Theodor von Gothland|de}}'', with Grashof in the title role, that year, Johannes R. Becher's ''Winterschlacht'' with Mann in 1985, and a ''Trilogy of Passion'' consisting of ''Medea'' by Euripides, Goethe's ''Stella'' and Strindberg's ''Totentanz'' in 1986.<ref name="BS" /><ref name="Akademie Wolf" />

Lang said about his approach:

{{quote|I am neither able nor willing to make a text the way it has supposedly been played for centuries, because that would be a kind of neutral historicism ... without obligation and doesn't hurt anyone. That would be an anti-realistic theater, because realism consists of telling fables and plays from today, from my world of experience, my knowledge, from the world situation. Otherwise I would turn the theater into a restorative-static institution, but theater is always a dynamic process – contemporary history always influences the history of interpretation... The focal point is the decoding for today.<ref name="BS" />}}

The city of Berlin awarded its {{ill|Goethe-Preis der Stadt Berlin|de|lt=Goethe Prize}} to Lang in 1981. In 1985 he received the National Prize of East Germany, and in 1986 he became a member of the Academy of Arts.<ref name="Akademie" /><ref name="Nachtkritik" />

In 1985 Lang directed for the first time in West Germany, Schiller's ''Don Karlos'' at the Münchner Kammerspiele.<ref name="BS" /> In May 1986 he announced that he was taking a three-year break from Deutsches Theater and worked as a guest director at the Kammerspiele, where he staged a double programme of Racine's ''Phèdre'' and Kleist's ''Penthesilea'' in 1987.Münchner Kammerspiele. His next planned production was a presentation of Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' at the Berlin State Opera, but this production was indefinitely postponed.<ref name="Spiegel 1987" /> In 1988 Lang returned to Munich and staged Bernard-Marie Koltès' ''In der Einsamkeit der Baumwollfelder''.<ref name="Akademie" /><ref name="Spiegel 1987" />

In February 1988, Lang was recruited by Jürgen Flimm to the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, where he became the resident theatre director in succession to {{ill|Jürgen Gosch|de}}.<ref name="Akademie" /><ref name="Spiegel 1987" /> His first production there was Goethe's ''Clavigo'' in 1988.<ref name="Spiegel 1987" /><ref name=Goethe-Galopp>{{cite news|url=http://www.zeit.de/1988/15/goethe-galopp/komplettansicht|title=Goethe-Galopp: Alexander Lang beginnt seine Arbeit in Hamburg mit "Clavigo"|newspaper=Die Zeit |date=8 April 1988|publisher=Die Zeit (online)|access-date=22 June 2015|archive-date=22 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622205039/http://www.zeit.de/1988/15/goethe-galopp/komplettansicht|url-status=live}}</ref> His next Hamburg productions were ''Rückkehr in die Wüste'' by Koltès in 1988 and ''Der Hofmeister'' by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz in 1989. In addition, in 1989, he worked at the Nederlands Toneel as a guest producer of Chekhov's ''Three Sisters''.<ref name="Akademie" />

Eight months before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, Lang had been able to cross the border to West Berlin where he took a job as senior director at the Schillertheater.<ref name="Akademie" /> He was simultaneously, with Alfred Kirchner, Volkmar Clauß and Vera Sturm, a co-director of the {{ill|Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin|de|lt=National Drama Theatre}} in East Berlin.<ref name="Akademie" /> He staged at the Schillertheater in 1989 Bernhard Minetti's ''Märchen in Deutschland'' based on fairy-tales of the Brothers Grimm as well as Schiller's ''Die Räuber''. The following year, when Berlin was unified again, he presented a new production of Goethe's ''Iphigenie auf Tauris'' and another of Molière's ''Der eingebildete Kranke''.<ref name="Akademie" /> He returned to Deutsches Theater in 1992 to stage {{ill|Klaus Pohl (German actor)|de|Klaus Pohl (Dramatiker)|lt=Klaus Pohl}}'s ''Karate-Billi kehrt zurück''.<ref name="Akademie" />

In 1993 the Schillertheater company closed down for financial reasons; shortly before. Lang directed at Deutsches Theater ''Oedipus Rex'' by Sophocles.<ref name="Akademie" /> and Goethe's ''Torquato Tasso'',<ref name="Renk" /> both in 1996, and ''Voltaire Rousseau'' by Jean-François Prévands in 2000..<ref name="Akademie" />

=== As a guest director === Lang worked as a guest director with the Comédie-Française in Paris,<ref name="Akademie" /> staging Kleist's ''Der Prinz von Homburg'' in 1994, Lessing's ''Nathan der Weise'' in 1999, and Goethe's ''Faust I'' in 1999; he was the only German director to be invited three times.<ref name="Decker" /> He also directed at the Kammerspiele, Herbert Achternbusch's ''Der letzte Gast'' in 1996,<ref>{{citation |title=Platon ans Telefon |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-8871186.html |work=Der Spiegel |year=1996 |issue=5 |series=13 September |access-date=13 September 2016 |archive-date=7 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607160108/https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/platon-ans-telefon-a-51269982-0002-0001-0000-000008871186?context=issue |url-status=live }}</ref> and at the Bregenzer Festspiele.<ref name="Akademie" /> At the Residenztheater he directed the world premiere of Tankred Dorst's comedy, ''{{ill|Wegen Reichtum geschlossen|de|Wegen Reichtum geschlossen (Tankred Dorst)}}'' in 1998, at the {{ill|Schauspiel Leipzig|de}} Hebbel's ''{{ill|Die Nibelungen (Hebbel)|de|lt=Die Nibelungen}}'' in 2000, and at Nationaltheater Weimar Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' in 2001.<ref name="Akademie" /> He directed several more productions at the Maxim Gorki Theater when Volker Hesse was general manager, Gorki's ''Nachtasyl'' in 2003, Ewers' ''Das Wundermärchen von Berlin'' in 2005 and Kleist's ''Der zerbrochene Krug'' in 2006.<ref name="Akademie" />

Lang received the Konrad Wolf Prize from the Academy of Arts in 2020;<ref name="Akademie Wolf">{{cite news |url=https://www.adk.de/en/press/press-releases.htm?we_objectID=61544 |title=2020 Konrad Wolf Prize goes to Alexander Lang |work=Akademie der Künste |date=27 August 2020 |access-date=16 June 2024 }}</ref><ref name="Stern">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.stern.de/gesellschaft/regional/berlin-brandenburg/todesfall--schauspieler-und-regisseur-alexander-lang-gestorben-34759716.html |title=Schauspieler und Regisseur Alexander Lang gestorben |magazine=Stern |date=31 May 2024 |language=de |access-date=4 June 2024 |archive-date=7 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607160128/https://www.stern.de/gesellschaft/regional/berlin-brandenburg/todesfall--schauspieler-und-regisseur-alexander-lang-gestorben-34759716.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The jury acknowledged his work, beginning as a spectacular young protagonist and then directing classical plays in "a new, authentic approach" with his "close-knit ensemble", inspiring with "comedic wit and enlightening fantasy". They noted his "defining influence from East to West".<ref name="Stern" />

===Personal life and death === Lang lived with the actress Katja Paryla; they had a son.<ref name="Akademie Paryla">{{cite news |url=https://www.adk.de/de/news/?we_objectID=32503 |title=Akademie der Künste trauert um Katja Paryla |work=Akademie der Künste |date=30 January 2013 |language=de |access-date=4 June 2024 |archive-date=7 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607160107/https://www.adk.de/de/news/?we_objectID=32503 |url-status=live }}</ref> Lang was later married to Annette Reber, dramaturge of the Maxim Gorki Theater; she died in 2008 aged 43.<ref name="Seidler Reber">{{cite news |url=https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/archiv/die-dramaturgin-autorin-und-regisseurin-annette-reber-ist-43-jaehrig-gestorben-erinnern-mit-lust-und-wut-li.512483 |last=Seidler |first=Ulrich |title=Erinnern mit Lust und Wut |newspaper=Berliner Zeitung |date=30 January 2008 |language=de |access-date=4 June 2024 |archive-date=7 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607160106/https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/archiv/die-dramaturgin-autorin-und-regisseurin-annette-reber-ist-43-jaehrig-gestorben-erinnern-mit-lust-und-wut-li.512483 |url-status=live }}</ref> He had a severe illness in the 2000s;<ref name="Nachtkritik" /> he had no legs, lived in a wheelchair<ref name="Seidler">{{cite news |url=https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/theater/alexander-lang-ist-tot-grosser-theatermann-starb-mit-82-jahren-in-berlin-ein-nachruf-li.2220465 |last=Seidler |first=Ulrich |title=Spielen mit dem Widerspruch: Der große Theatermann Alexander Lang ist tot |newspaper=Berliner Zeitung |date=31 May 2024 |language=de |access-date=4 June 2024 |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604181500/https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/theater/alexander-lang-ist-tot-grosser-theatermann-starb-mit-82-jahren-in-berlin-ein-nachruf-li.2220465 |url-status=live }}</ref> and withdrew from the public.<ref name="Nachtkritik" /> He lived alone in Berlin-Pankow, with assistance.<ref name="Seidler" />

Lang died at home on 31 May 2024, aged 82.<ref name="Nachtkritik" /><ref name="Seidler" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Eydlin |first=Alexander |last2= |date=31 May 2024 |title=Theater: Schauspieler und Regisseur Alexander Lang ist tot |url=https://www.zeit.de/kultur/2024-05/alexander-lang-schauspieler-regisseur-gestorben |access-date=31 May 2024 |work=Die Zeit |language=de |issn=0044-2070 |archive-date=1 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601042003/https://www.zeit.de/kultur/2024-05/alexander-lang-schauspieler-regisseur-gestorben |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== Further reading == * Lang, Alexander: ''Abenteuer Theater''. ed. {{ill|Martin Linzer|de}}. Henschelverlag Kunst und Gesellschaft, Berlin, 1977. * "Dantons Tod von Georg Büchner. Eine Dokumentation der Aufführung des Deutschen Theaters Berlin 1981". In: ''Theaterarbeit in der DDR'', vol. 8, ed. Michael Funke. Verband der Theaterschaffenden der DDR, 1983, {{ISSN|0138-2322}}. * ''Trilogie der Leidenschaft. Medea von Euripides, Stella von Goethe, Totentanz von Strindberg in Inszenierungen des Deutschen Theaters. Regie Alexander Lang''. ed. Martin Linzer. Henschelverlag Kunst und Gesellschaft, Berlin, 1988. * Linzer, Martin: "Alexander Lang oder: Klassik für heute. Inszenierungen am Deutschen Theater 1976–1986". In: ''Durch den Eisernen Vorhang. Theater im geteilten Deutschland 1945 bis 1990''. ed. {{ill|Henning Rischbieter|de}}. Propyläen Verlag, Berlin, 1999.

==External links== * {{Discogs artist|Alexander Lang}} * {{Imdb name|0485669}} * Iris Laufenberg: [https://www.deutschestheater.de/das-deutsche-theater/abschied-von-alexander-lang Wir trauern um Alexander Lang] (in German) Deutsches Theater 2024

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Alexander}} Category:1941 births Category:2024 deaths Category:German theatre directors Category:20th-century German male actors Category:Actors from Erfurt Category:Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Category:Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Category:Male actors from Thuringia

Alexander Lang

Connections

Linked from

Links to (81 total)