Wieso sollte er, da er doch sterben musste, nicht leben?

"The death of Heiner Müller was already tough; then the death of Ms. Berghaus - a low blow; but the end of Take That - you don't even know anymore!!!" Einar Schleef

Einar Schleef, who died young on July 21, 2001, would have turned 80 on January 17, 2024. His incomparable creative power made him a shining light of the 20th century avant-garde. As a director and author, he revolutionized theater in East and West and was also a painter, set designer, photographer, made experimental short films and acted in his own plays. He brought the chorus back to West German theater - and broke taboos in the process. Schleef's works have always evoked strong emotions and infected the theater for a long time. Today he is almost forgotten.

"As a poet and as a man of the theater, Schleef was the most outstanding figure I have ever met," wrote Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek shortly after his death. His writings were a work of the century. She knew of nothing comparable.

So there is much to remember: an "aesthetic genius", a stutterer, a tragedian, an "obsessive firebrand" - in short, a berserker. He is missing!

"Remembering is work" is Schleef's motto. With this in mind. Let's celebrate him!

By and with: Christine Groß, Martin Wuttke and many friends and companions