Contributors

Helmut Stürmer was born in Timisoara in 1942. He studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest. During a period of 40 years he designed stage sets and drew dress sketches for more than 250 theatre plays and operas. From 1968 to 1977 he worked as set designer for the State Theatre−Sibiu, the Bulandra Theatre−Bucharest and other theatre houses in Romania. He also collaborated with the Schauspiel Köln and the Münchner Kammerspiele in Germany. Since 1977, when he became a resident of Germany, he has collaborated with state theatres and opera houses in Stuttgart, Dϋsseldorf, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Hamburg, Leipzig, Nϋrnberg, Karlsruhe etc.He has collaborated with major theatres in Europe, America and Australia (Old Tote Theatre−Sydney, Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Theater am Neumarkt−Zürich, La Mama Theatre−New York, Volkstheater−Vienna, Théâtre de l’ Union−Limoges, Opera Basel,
Det Norske Teatret−Oslo, Katona Joszef Theatre−Budapest, Royal Shakespeare Company−London, National Theatre−Prague, Teatro Colon−Buenos Aires etc).
Aside from his extensive work for opera and drama, he has also worked as art director for nine films.
In 2017, the 4th Madách International Theatre Meeting (MITEM)−Budapest organized a Retrospective Exhibition of Stürmer’s work.
His numerous awards include: Romanian Artists' Union Award for stage design (“Hamlet”, directed by Dinu Cernescu, 1974), Romanian Critics' Award for best set design in historical film (“Tanase Scatiu”, directed by Dan Pita, 1975), UNITER (Romanian Theatre Union) Award for best stage design of 1999-2000 season (“It Is So If You Think It Is” and “Hamlet” directed by Vlad Mugur, 2001), UNITER Award for Life Achievement (2001), Hungarian Critics' Award for best set and costume design of the Year (“Troilus and Cressida”, directed by Silviu Purcărete, 2006), UNITER Award for the best stage design of the 2007-2008 season (“Faust”, directed by Silviu Purcărete, 2008), Romanian Film Award (Gopo) for best movie set (“Undeva la Palilula”, directed by Silviu Purcarete, 2013), Best Scenography Award and Prize “for the most important theatre event of the festival” at the Romanian Comedy Festival Bucharest (“Fuchsiada”, directed by Helmut Stürmer assisted by Silviu Purcarete, 2016), UNITER Prize for Best Stage Design of the Year 2017 (“Erendira”, directed by Yuri Kordonsky, 2018).

 

Last update: 12/9/2018