Adam Donen

Gast

Described by BBC News as “either a genius or a madman”, Adam Donen invents artforms, writes, directs and composes. 

In the 2000s, though creating notable site specific theatre works, Donen was best known as a rock musician, releasing four albums and touring extensively. He switched to classical music in 2012, collaborating with Roger O’Donnell of The Cure on two orchestral works before moving on to writing symphonies.

In 2016, he created, directed and composed Symphony to a Lost Generation, the world's first fully holographic drama, which featured a cast of 250 actors and dancers (including ballet superstars Sergei Polunin and Natalia Osipova), the Lithuanian Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Choir all appearing as holograms on an empty stage. He followed this with Nixon in Agony, the world's first binaural audio drama, with Steven Berkoff in the lead role, a headline commission for the South African National Arts Festival.

Alice, Through the Looking (2021), Donen’s first feature film, was characterised by Tallinn Black Nights, at which it premiered in competition, as, “Imagine that you are sitting at a table in a crowded and bustling café, having your eighth consecutive espresso and debating with David Lynch, Woody Allen and Jean-Luc Godard. These are, indeed, big names to characterise a debutante, but in director Adam Donen’s case lesser names are not enough.“ The film, which won Best Feature Film and Best Director awards at multiple festivals. A subsequent feature film, Declaration of Independence, is currently in production.

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, he moved to London at 18, and has lived in Baden-Baden since 2019. While presenting work across the world, this will be his first work in his adopted home city.


Der Verschollene
nach dem Romanfragment von Franz Kafka