Heinrich Reisenhofer

Heinrich Reisenhofer (born 1973). Actor, playwright and director, producer.

Biography

He was born on 25 September 1973.

Training

Trained at the University of Cape Town. Receiving his Performer’s Diploma in 1993.

Career

After graduating from the UCT Drama School in 1993 he worked for two years as a freelance actor and singer before joining the Jazzart Dance Theatre (Cape Town’s foremost African contemporary dance company) where he worked for five years as a dancer and choreographer. In his final six months at Jazzart was Acting Artistic Director and co-ordinator of the Arts in Education Residency Programme for the Western Cape Education Dept.

His directorial career was launched in 1998 with SUIP!. As a freelance choreographer, singer and performer his credits include the mini musicals and cabarets like Almost the Sound of Music and Not the Midnight Mass.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Defrocked – Not the Midnight Mass, 2001. There he performed and participated in the creation of a host of well known productions from Medea to Raw Dog Night. He also had roles in A Little Life Like This (1992), Uncle Vanya (1993), Strangers on a Train (1999) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2003).

His directorial career was launched in 1998 when he teamed up with Oscar Petersen, to co-write and direct the runaway success SUIP! for the Baxter Theatre Centre, which ran for three years including a successful tour to Perth Festival in Australia and to the Tricycle Theatre in London.

In 1999, along with Oscar and David Isaacs, he formed Djamaqua Productions and produced, directed and co-wrote the popular award winning Cape-comedy Joe Barber (performed at Skokiaan Theatre Bar, Cape Town) which was followed by the equally popular sequel Joe Barber and Boeta Gamat Too and Joe Barber 3 the Family Affair. The series has now been running for over 7 years. As well as managing the Joe Barber Company he directed Marc Lottering in Say Cheese, Stuart Taylor in Techni Coloured, Not the Midnight Mass, Three Tons of Fun at On Broadway and Hot Chocolate for the Barnyard Theatre.

He played various roles in Almost the Sound of Music and appeared as the old blind man in Medea (1994).

His more serious works include the first South African stage adaptation of Alan Paton’s book Cry, the Beloved Country and the production Groundswell.

He directed The Coolie Odyssey (2005), Groundswell (2006), Festen (2007), Kroes (2008), Learner Husband (2009).

Awards, etc

He won the Rosalie van der Gucht Prize for New Directors in 1999 for Suip!, which he co-wrote with Oscar Peterson (Also winner of the Fleur du Cap Award for Best New Indigenous Script 1999).

SUIP! for which he won Fleur du Cap Award - Best New Director and FNB Vita Awards for Indigenous Script.

He received the coveted Fleur du Cap Award for Best Director for Cry, the Beloved Country in 2003, a Kanna Award for comedy at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) (2003) and the production Groundswell, which earned him further a Fleur du Cap Award for Best Director 2006. He also won a Kanna award as best director for Festen, KKNK 2007.

Sources

Almost the Sound of Music programme notes, 1993.

Various entries in the NELM catalogue.

[1].

Go to ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to ESAT Personalities R

Return to South African Theatre Personalities

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page