Born in 1960 in Swabia, Germany, he trained as an electrical appliance mechanic and master of stage lighting. He studied Latin American Studies and Theater Studies at the Free University of Berlin and gained professional experience in street theater, off-theater productions, and independent theater groups in Berlin, working as a lighting technician, stage designer, dancer, musician, and actor.
He subsequently worked at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, collaborating on productions directed by Stephan Bachmann, Karin Beier, Luk Perceval, and Peter Zadek. Since 2000, he has been a lighting designer at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, working with directors such as Falk Richter, Meret Matter, Christoph Schlingensief, Raphael Sanchez, Christoph Marthaler, Johan Simons, Wilfried Minks, Frank Castorf, Matthias Hartmann, Nikolaus Helbling, Stephan Pucher, Heike Götze, David Bösch, Samir, Barbara Weber, Heiner Goebbels, Barbara Frey, René Pollesch, Karin Henkel, Yana Ross, Alexander Giesche, Christopher Rüping, Wu Tsang, Jan Bosse, and many others.
He has extensive touring experience across Europe and the Americas and has participated multiple times in the Berlin Theatertreffen and the Swiss Theatertreffen.
photo: © Leo Sussmann