Leopold Jessner

Leopold Jessner ( born March 3, 1878 in Königsberg, † December 13, 1945 in Hollywood ) was a German theater and film director. He is an important representative of the stage Expressionism and the political theater of the 1920s. He became known also as the creator of " Jessnerschen stairs ".

Life

Leopold Jessner began as an actor on various stages before he became a theater director. Until 1930 he worked for the Thalia Theater in Hamburg ( senior director from 1905 to 1915 ), the New Theatre in Konigsberg (Director 1915-1919 ), as director of the State Schauspielhaus in Berlin ( 1919-1928 ), then as general director of the Schauspielbühnen the State Theatre Berlin (1928-1930), the leading theaters of the Weimar Republic. Jessner's contract as general manager in 1930 was converted into a management contract, which was dissolved in 1933 by the Nazis. Jessner was considered representative of the expressionist stage director and protagonist of contemporary political theater and was a board member of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith. His work for the film presents itself as a side effect and byproduct of his work in the theater, including productions back stairs ( 1921, Paul Leni as co -director) and Earth Spirit (1923 by Frank Wedekind ).

1934 emigrated Jessner after a stint in Western Europe, first to Britain, where he unsuccessfully tried to start a film company. In 1935 he went to Palestine in 1937 and in the United States. There he worked as an editor at MGM.

1951 a street in Berlin's Friedrichshain district was named after Jessner.

Theatre Historical importance

The director was famous by the " Jessnersche staircase ," which he developed in collaboration with Emil Pirchan. It is an independent stages stage, since Jessner Berlin stated acquisition staging of William Tell (1919), which led to a complete scandal ( vividly portrayed by Fritz Kortner who gave the Gessler, in his memoirs, All Day evening, 1959, XX. chapter), the center of Jessner strictly structured, space and timeless stage spaces formed and through which the director wanted to bring the core of his texts to bear. Jessner's directing style was characterized by a precise choreography, symbolic gestures and arrangements, scenic extreme shortage and a clenched, rhythmic language.

Jessner played a significant role as a promoter of young writers such as Bertolt Brecht, young directors such as Jürgen Fehling and actors like Fritz Kortner.

Works

• Writings. Theater of the twenties. Henschel, Berlin 1979.