Martin G. Berger
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Martin G. Berger was born in Berlin in 1987 and grew up in Berlin, Istanbul and Munich.
His work as a director, author and translator has taken him all over the German-speaking world, including Theater Basel, Hanover State Opera, Aalto-Theater Essen, Theater an der Wien, Staatstheater Kassel, Oper Dortmund, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Deutsche Oper Berlin (Tischlerei), Luzerner Theater, Theater Bremen, Theater Trier, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Staatstheater Augsburg, Theater Heidelberg, Volksoper Wien (Kasino am Schwarzenbergplatz), Staatsoperette Dresden, Theater Oberhausen and Neuköllner Oper.
Martin G. Berger has received awards and nominations for his productions, winning the German theater prize FAUST in the category “Best Director Musical Theater” in 2020, after having already been nominated for it in 2018 and nominated for the Götz Friedrich Prize in 2015. He won the Karan Armstrong Prize of the Götz Friedrich Foundation, the German Musical Theater Prize 2016 for Best Director, the Trier Musical Award 2016 and the Orpheus Award for Special Services to Operetta in 2018. His production of The Barber of Seville was named Best Production in the 2019 NRW Critics' Poll.
Martin G. Berger is characterized by his wide range. He works in opera, operetta and musicals, but also in drama, in performance collectives and with puppeteers. He often adapts works in his own way and brings together performers from different genres for his productions.
Berger also appears as an author and translator. His translation of “Maskerade” premiered at Oper Frankfurt in 2021 in a production by Tobias Kratzer. His versions of “Candide”, “Follies” and “Anyone Can Whistle” are published by “Musik und Bühne”, “La Cage Aux Folles” by Felix Bloch Erben. The latter translation was first performed in 2022 in a production by Barry Koskie.
The musical “Der geteilte Himmel” premiered in 2022 at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater (music: Wolfgang Böhmer), “Kasimir und Karoline” in 2023 at the Staatsoper Hannover (with Martin Mutschler, music: Jherek Bischoff), “Der 35. Mai” (with Jasper Sonne and Michael Ellis Ingram) will have its world premiere in 2024 at Theater Bremen. The new opera “Frühlings Erwachen” (music: Ludger Vollmer) will be produced by the Hamburg State Opera at Kampnagel in 2025.
Martin G. Berger was opera director at the Mecklenburg State Theater in the 21/22 season.
Berger's path into directing led him to several years as a permanent assistant at the Dortmund Opera and the Hanover State Opera. He assisted renowned directors such as Christine Mielitz, Sebastian Baumgarten, Stefan Huber and Benedikt von Peter.