Revolutionary theater director Claus Peymann turns 80

Klaus Eberhard Peymann was born on June 7, 1937, into a middle-class family in Bremen. His father was a teacher and a Nazi; his mother opposed National Socialism. Klaus, for his part, rebelled by changing the spelling of his name: "When did 'Klaus' turn into 'Claus'? I don't know! At some point, it was just easier to write in school," said Peymann.

Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard (left) was Claus Peymann's favorite author. The intellectual soulmates quickly sealed a pact to work together, premiering works for the stage. Bernhard lovingly dubbed his theater director "Grand Duke of the Mold Loft." This photo was taken in the 1970s.

Actresses Kirsten Dene and Maria Happel were part of Claus Peymann's theater family. Here, they are shown playing in Elfriede Jelinek's "Raststätte" in 1994. Peymann staged the works of the Austrian playwright, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2004, long before others did.

Author and playwright Peter Handke (left) and Claus Peymann were likewise intellectual soulmates. They're shown here following the premiere of "Spuren der Verirrten" ("The Lost") at the Berliner Ensemble in 2007. Peymann promoted Handke from the start by premiering his works and, despite eventual broadsides, stood by him.

This rare black-and-white photo shows Claus Peymann - called C.P. by his friends - in a typical "Existentialist" pose. "People wore black sweaters and the women had long dark hair. Then we would travel to Paris whenever we could, hanging out in dimly lit basements. Juliette Gréco was our goddess; Camus and Sartre were our prophets," Peymann once said.

The staging of Heinrich von Kleist's "Die Hermannsschlacht" ("Hermann's Battle") in Bochum in 1982 was the production of a lifetime. People had considered it impossible to play on stage, but Peymann turned it into magic with two of his favorite actors, Kirsten Dene (right) and Gert Voss.

A unique collaboration: playwright Thomas Bernhard (left) and Claus Peymann (second from left) worked so well together, that Bernhard wrote pieces for their favorite actors. This photo shows them along with actors Ilse Ritter, Kirsten Dene and Gert Voss, the cast of "Ritter, Dene, Voss," after its premiere in 1986.

The climax of Claus Peymann's career as director premiering works was surely "Heldenplatz" by Thomas Bernhard (middle), in 1988, shortly before the writer's death. It was a political spectacle that addressed anti-Semitism and revanchism among Austrians. It provoked outrage among audiences and critics alike.

Under Peymann's direction, the Berliner Ensemble went on many foreign tours as a "cultural ambassador troupe." His adaption of the Bertolt Brecht classic "Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder" ("Mother Courage and Her Children"), with Carmen Maja Antoni in the main role, was especially popular. This photo shows the troupe in Vahdat Hall at the Fadjr International Theater Festival in Tehran in 2008.

Achim Freyer was one of the most formative stage designers of the Peymann theater age. Once the two had met, nothing would separate them. The colors black/white/red often dominated in their works, such as this staging of Franz Kafka's "The Trial" in 2014, played by the Berliner Ensemble, with stage and costume designs by Freyer.

This is the image of himself Claus Peymann prefers: accessible, open-minded, and willing to debate issues. A man who loves to laugh and discuss things. He has been one of the few to invite school pupils into his theater to talk shop. Here he is shown at the Berliner Ensemble in 2009.