Adriana Altaras

Adriana Altaras was born in Zagreb (Croatia) and grew up in Italy and Germany. After graduating from High School she studied at Berlin's Academy of Dramatic Arts. She completed her studies at the New York University. Adriana Altaras is co-founder of Berlin's most important off-theater, the Theater zum West lichen Stadthirschen, where she worked as actress, director, and author for several years. Her performances include 'Der Frosch' (Achternbusch), 'Die Nächte der Cabiria' (after Fellini), 'Clara S.' (Jelinek), 'Sommernachtstraum' (Shakespeare), the original performance of Matthias Zschokke's 'Elefanten können nicht' and the first German performance of Leona Carrington's 'Penelope'. Further, Ms. Altaras played at the Maxim-Gorki-Theater and the Freie Volksbühne in Berlin, and at the city theaters in Basel, Constance, and Stuttgart. She wrote a solo piece, 'Jonteff', that she performed in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Brazil. Adriana Altaras has directed plays at the College of Hearts in Berlin ('Der letzte Waschgang'), at Berlin's Academy of Dramatic Arts ('Schlag nach bei Shakespeare'), at the Landestheater Neustrelitz ('Marry Me a Little'), the Berliner Ensemble ('Was gibts Neues vom Krieg', original performance), the Theater tri-Bühne in Stuttgart ('Die Hose'), and several times at the Neuköllner Oper in Berlin ('Frau Parker kann nicht schlafen, Liebestrank'), were she last staged the operas 'La sorella amante' and 'Tom Jones'. Ms. Altaras' current mise en scène is a German version of the 'Vagina Monologues'. Released in summer 2001, the production is currently being resumed due to its big success. In 2002 she directed a production of 'Women' at Berlin's Gorki Theater, Her latest work as a director is 'Hyp 'OP', scenes about and with the participation of hyperactive children. Besides working on and for the stage, Adriana Altaras frequently appears in TV and cinema films. These include 'Dorado One Way', 'Der Philosoph', 'Sieben Frauen', 'Das Kondom des Grauens', 'Love Is Around', 'Liebling Kreuzberg, 'Siebenstein', 'Top Cops', 'Cornelius hilft', 'Wolffs Revier', 'Tatort, 'Schimanski', 'Das 'Gesetz der Serie', 'Apocalypso', 'Happy Birthday', 'Paradiso', 'Kalt ist der Abendhauch', 'Rot und Blau', 'Der Puppengräber', 'Geschlecht weiblich', 'Alles auf Zucker', 'Mein Führer', 'Schliemann und Sophia', 'Prinz Edouard', 'Max Minsky und ich' and 'Der Vollidiot'. Moreover, Ms. Altaras teaches Musical at Berlin's Academy of Arts, and works as an interviewer for the Shoa Foundation. In 1988 Ms. Altaras was awarded with the German Film Award, and she received the Theater Award of Northrhine-Westfalia in 1993. She belonged to the ensemble awarded with the Actors Award (Silver Bear) of Berlin's Film Festival for Rudolf Thome's "Paradiso" in 2000.