Robert Lehniger

Robert Lehniger was born in Weimar in 1974. He studied Media Design (Experimental Television) at the Bauhaus University and was an assistant director at the theatre in Basel in 2000–2002. Since then he has worked as an independent director throughout the German, Austrian and Swiss theatre landscape.^[1]

He is known for his uses of digital media in combination with stage performance, bridging the gap between theatre and cinema. His productions include a 2008 "remake" of Friedrich Hebbel's Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge for the Schauspiel Frankfurt,^[2] a 2010 adaptation of Jean-Luc Godard's film Weekend for the Theater am Neumarkt in Zürich^[3] and a 2012 adaptation of Christian Kracht's novel Faserland for the Schauspiel Hannover.^[4] Since 2016, he has made a series of productions for the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in a format he calls "to go", where he has staged German classics such as Faust, Nathan the Wise and The Maid of Orleans at various locations around Düsseldorf.^[5][6]

From 2019 to 2022, he was professor of acting and head of study program at the Cours Florent in Berlin^[7] and has been Principal of the MetFilm School in Berlin since September 2022.^[8]

In 2021, his production Corpus Delicti based on the novel by Juli Zeh at the Deutsches Theater Berlin was invited to the Ruhrfestspiele^[9] and to the Schäxpir theatre festival for young audiences in Linz.^[10]

He was stage director for the award show for the 36th European Film Awards 2023 in Berlin.^[11][12] For the 38th European Film Awards, scheduled for 17 January 2026 in Berlin, Robert Lehniger is appointed as stage director again, overseeing the ceremony’s artistic concept and performative design. He will collaborate closely with filmmaker-curator Mark Cousins—who is presenting the event as a “live film-essay”—and German film composer Dascha Dauenhauer, who is responsible for its musical concept.^[13]

• 2005, Schauspiel Frankfurt: God save Amerika by Bljana Srbljanovic
• 2009, Schauspiel Hannover: The Dreamers after the novel by Gilbert Adair
• 2013, Deutsche Oper Berlin: Der Ring: Next Generation by Richard Wagner and Alexandra Holtsch^[14]
• 2018, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus: Nathan (to go) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
• 2022, Schauspielhaus Bochum: On Connection by Kae Tempest
• 2023, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus: The Maid of Orleans (to go) by Friedrich Schiller