Christopher Rüping (1985) creates productions that are as tender as they are exuberant, in which the actors can interact freely with each other and the audience. Instead of focusing on developing an easily identifiable directorial style, he is always looking for new experiences, experimenting with new forms and conceptual approaches that allow him to express very personal and modern takes on both classic and contemporary materials, while his greatest emphasis is on acting.
Born in Hannover, he studied directing at the Theatre Academy in Hamburg and the Zurich University of the Arts. From 2016 to 2019 he was a resident director at the Müncher Kammerspiele, from 2019 to 2024 he held the same position at the Schauspielhaus Zürich.
Rüping’s reputation is not only reflected in his numerous awards (Young Director of the Year 2014 and 2015, and Director of the Year 2019 and 2021 according to Theater heute magazine) but also in the fact that he has received five invitations to the prestigious Berliner Theatertreffen festival. In 2015, it was with the production Das Fest / The Celebration, based on the film by Thomas Vinterberg and Mogens Rukov (Schauspiel Stuttgart); in 2018 with Trommeln in der Nacht / Drums in the Night by Bertolt Brecht; in 2019 with the ten-hour opus inspired by ancient Dionysian themes called Dionysos Stadt / Dionysos City (both at the Münchner Kammerspiele); and in 2021 with Einfach das Ende der Welt / It’s Only the End of the World by Jean-Luc Lagarce (Schauspielhaus Zürich), for which he also won the Nestroy Theatre Prize.
The latter title forms the first part of a loose trilogy in which Rüping questions the construct of family in the 21st century. The second part, Breasts and Eggs, based on Mieko Kawakami’s novel, was staged at the Thalia Theater Hamburg in 2022. The trilogy is completed with Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, which officially opens this year’s Flora.
At this year’s Theatertreffen festival, Christopher Rüping will receive the prestigious Theaterpreis Berlin award, which is presented to “personalities who have made a significant contribution to German-language theatre through their life’s work or individual achievements”. Past recipients of the award include actress Sandra Hüller, Nobel Prize winner Elfride Jelinek and Maxim Gorki Theater intendant Shermin Langhoff.

photo Daniel Pilar