When the great 83-year-old Peter Zadek died in Hamburg in July last year, an incomparable theatrical life came to an end. No director provoked, revolutionised and dominated German theatre for five decades like him. No other director created such a multitude of unforgettable stage productions. But Zadek was not just a theatre director, he also made magnificent films and was theatre manager in Bochum, Hamburg and Berlin. He taught stage direction and published two volumes of fascinating memoirs (both by Kiepenheuer & Witsch).
Peter Zadek worked on the third and final part of his memoirs until shortly before his death. This volume is now published posthumously – a gift for everyone who experienced and followed the work of this theatre genius. In The Years of Travel, Peter Zadek describes his life with writer Elisabeth Plessen and his work from the early eighties. With laconic wit, astute observations and surprising analyses, he takes stock of achievements and failures, personal experiences and events in contemporary history. And he frequently returns to “his” actors, an unforgettable group, among them: Ulrich Wildgruber, Angela Winkler, Eva Mattes, Uwe Bohm und Susanne Lothar, to name just a few. Peter Zadek never ceased reflecting about theatre as a public art form: What is an actor? What does theatre direction mean? How do you use language? What can theatre achieve? His answers are a legacy to us.
The Years of Travel are based on conversations with Helge Malchow. The book was edited by Elisabeth Plessen.
