KING SIZE

Born in Erlenbach near Zuerich. In the 70ies and 80ies he worked as musician at different renowned theatres in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. From 1988 to 1993 he worked continuously for Theater Basel; here he started working as a director and developped his specific Marthaler style, a completely new genre of music theatre. He directed among others: «Ankunft Badischer Bahnhof» (1988), «Stägli uf, Stägli ab, juhee!» (1990), «Prohelvetia» (1993). With his production «Murx den Europäer! Murx ihn! Murx ihn! Murx ihn! Murx ihn ab!» the new theatre form and language he has created became famous in the whole german language theatre world and then all over Europe. «Murx» was followed by further productions at the Volksbuehne Berlin and at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg, eg «Goethes Faust – Wurzel 1+2». For Marthaler’s new interpretation of «La Vie parisienne», which meanwhile has become legendary, Sylvain Cambreling developped a new orchestration with the Klangforum Wien. Marthaler and Cambreling have collaborated a lot since.

2000–2004, Christoph Marthaler was Artistic Director of Zuerich Schauspielhaus; in this period, the Schauspielhaus has been twice elected «Theater des Jahres» (Theatre of the year, the most renowned title in the german speaking theatre world). Marthaler worked for the Zuercher Festspiele (world premiere of «invocation» an opera with texts by Marguerite Duras and music by Beat Furrer), he collaborated with Meg Stuart and Stefan Pucher («Das goldene Zeitalter»), directed continuously for Volksbuehne Berlin, Wiener Festwochen, Opéra Nationale de Paris and Opéra Bastille, Salzburger Festspiele, Theater Basel, Oper Zuerich, Teatro Real Madrid and many others. His projects «Das Theater mit dem Waldhaus» and «Riesenbutzbach. Eine Dauerkolonie» have been invited to renowned Berliner Theatertreffen. In 2010, Marthaler was artiste associé at Festival D’Avignon and directed «Papperlapapp». His productions have been invited to festivals all over the world.

Born in Bergen in 1979, the singer/actress Tora Augestad studied classical music as well as jazz singing in Oslo and Stockholm, devoting herself principally to repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries. While studying in Berlin and Munich she intensified her involvement with German music, before then graduating in cabaret singing at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.

In the meantime, Tora Augestad has become a regular guest in the opera houses, concert halls, and theaters of her native Norway and in the rest of Europe, sharing the podium with musical partners such as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, the Oslo Sinfonietta (, Ensemble Contrechamps and the Klangforum Wien.

Collaboration with the Swiss director Christoph Marthaler, which began in 2010 with the premiere of Beat Furrer’s music theatre work Wüstenbuch (Klangforum Wien) has since then become a constant in Tora Augestad’s artistic life.

Tora Augestad’s versatility inspires composers, theatre directors, and conductors. Through commissioning new works and through the collaboration with her various ensembles she continuously seeks new challenges and the exchange of artistic ideas.

Singer Michael von der Heide, born 1971 in swiss mountain village Amden, seduces audience and critics with his musical versatility, with his charme and humour. Michael von der Heide’s voice seems to have endless possibilities, he changes effortlessly within seconds, lets visual elements and memories come to life in the listener’s mind.

Meanwhile he has published with LIDO his CD number nine, gave hundreds of concerts in Europe and Canada, sang in numerous TV-shows and is one of Christoph Marthhaler’s regulars. In his productions he was to be seen on stage in Zuerich, Avignon, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow and in many other places.

Mittlerweile hat von der Heide mit LIDO seine neunte CD auf den Markt gebracht, gab Hunderte Volksbühne.

Von der Heides musical variety is what makes him so special and helped him to a lot of renowned awards, like the Silberner Hase for the swiss popsong of the year, the „Prix Walo", the german chanson price and several golden records. He worked – among others - withAnnette Humpe, 2raumwohnung, ich & ich , Ute Lemper and Nina Hagen.

Born in Belgard in Pomerania, today part of Poland, Nikola Weisse was trained as an actress at the Westfaelische Schauspielschule in Bochum. She has appeared at Staatstheater Hannover, Theater am Neumarkt, Theater Bremen, the Schaubuehne Berlin, Theater Basel and the Schauspielhaus Zurich. Her film credits include Thomas Koerfer’s Der Gehuelfe (The Helper) and Klaus Kinski’s Jack the Ripper. She also works as a director, e.g. Bambule at Theater Bremen. Her production of Patrick Barlow’s Der Messias (The Messiah), which premiered in the Komödie at Theater Basel in 1988, returned to Basel more than 20 years later in December 2009. As an actress, she has worked with a wide range of renowned directors, including Frank Patrick Steckel, Jürgen Gosch, Herbert Wernicke, Christoph Marthaler, Stefan Pucher, Falk Richter, Elias Perrig and Werner Dueggelin. In season 2006-2007, Nikola Weisse rejoined after some years of working independently the ensemble of Theater Basel; since 2012, she’s working freelance again.

Sarah Schittek was born in Hanover and lives in Zurich. After studying costume design and art history in Hanover and Berlin, she started working as an assistant to Anna Viebrock at Schauspielhaus Zurich in 2003. There she designed the costumes for O.T. Eine Ersatzpassion (O.T. An Ersatz Passion) in 2004, a production directed by Christoph Marthaler which was invited to Berliner Theatertreffen 2004. Since this time she has regularly worked as an independent costume designer with Christoph Marthaler. Sarah also works with directors like Schorsch Kamerun, Christiane Pohle and Clemens Sienknecht at the Volksbuehne Berlin, at Theater Basel, Kammerspiele Munich and Schauspielhaus Zurich.