The Edward Gordon Craig Lecture 2019: Johannes Schütz

The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and the Society for Theatre Research are pleased to announce that the 2019 Edward Gordon Craig Lecture will be delivered by German stage and costume designer Johannes Schütz (b. 1950, Frankfurt).

The radical clarity of Schütz’s plain, non-illusionist stage cubes is unique. They engulf performers and spectators in situational, shared affective spaces that never disavow their theatricality. Having trained under Wilfried Minks at Hamburg, Schütz started his career in the 1970s at Schillertheater Berlin and Kammerspiele Munich. He became a regular collaborator of German directors Frank-Patrick Steckel, Jürgen Gosch and Karin Beier, while throughout his career also regularly venturing into dance (most notably with German Tanztheater pioneer Reinhild Hoffmann) and opera. Working far beyond Germany (including ENO, Royal Court, and Young Vic London, Théâtre Royale La Monnaie Brussels, and the Sydney Theatre Company, Australia), Schütz has to date designed more than 250 productions, and received numerous awards and prizes, including the gold medal of the Prague Quadriennale (2007). Following his lecture, Schütz will engage in a conversation with British theatre director Joe Hill-Gibbins, with whom he has repeatedly worked, scenography scholar Rachel Hann (GSA Surrey), and theatre designer Joanna Parker (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama).

Photograph: Johannes Schütz, design for Uncle Vanya, dir. Jürgen Gosch, Deutsches Theater Berlin; © Iko Freese