Harry Buckwitz was a German actor, theatre director and theatre manager.
19 Facts About Harry Buckwitz
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Harry Buckwitz was general manager of the Stadtische Buhnen Frankfurt from 1951 and 1967, where he was responsible for opera and plays, and initiated a new house for them after the formerly separate theatres had been destroyed in World War II.
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Harry Buckwitz is known for Brecht productions, in Frankfurt and at the Schauspielhaus Zurich from 1970 to 1977.
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Harry Buckwitz then decided to become an actor and completed an acting course.
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In 1937, Harry Buckwitz was expelled from the Reichstheaterkammer as Halbjude.
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Harry Buckwitz was interned by the Allies, but soon sent back to Germany.
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Harry Buckwitz moved to the Stadtische Buhnen Frankfurt in 1951, where he was general director.
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Harry Buckwitz suggested housing both opera and theatre under one roof.
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Harry Buckwitz focused on productions of Bertolt Brecht's plays which he directed himself, such as Der kaukasische Kreidekreis in 1955 and Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder in 1958, with Therese Giehse in the title role.
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Harry Buckwitz produced works by contemporary authors such as Friedrich Durrenmatt, Max Frisch, Rolf Hochhuth, Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Miller, Jean-Paul Sartre and Tennessee Williams, some of them performed in Germany for the first time.
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Harry Buckwitz tried to open the theatre to all social classes, achieving an occupancy rate of up to 90 percent.
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Harry Buckwitz's programs were criticised by some as communist propaganda.
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In 1962, Harry Buckwitz became vice president of the Deutsche Akademie der Darstellenden Kunste.
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Harry Buckwitz was director of the Schauspielhaus Zurich from 1970 to 1977.
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Harry Buckwitz replied that parts of his manuscripts written in 1940 on his return from internment in Tanganyika in a camp at Berchtesgaden had been altered without his knowledge before publication, while Friedrich Durrenmatt and Rolf Hochhuth, among others, took sides for Harry Buckwitz.
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Harry Buckwitz was confirmed in office with a vote of confidence from the Board of Directors of the Zurich Schauspielhaus, which he fulfilled until 1977.
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In December 1977 Harry Buckwitz appeared as an actor in the role of Luis Concha Cordoba in the German television film Der Tod des Camilo Torres oder: Die Wirklichkeit halt viel aus, directed by Eberhard Itzenplitz.
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Harry Buckwitz worked as a freelance director until his death.
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Harry Buckwitz's extensive written legacy is held by the Academy of Arts, Berlin.