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An encounter with Bertolt Brecht brought Benno Besson, actor and theatre director, to East Berlin in 1949. Berliner Ensemble, Deutsches Theater and Volksbühne Berlin were important places of work where he staged major productions, and these theatres in team with Akademie der Künste are inviting you to celebrate his anniversary on 4 November, 2022 at Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.

Born in francophone Switzerland, he was loved and admired in the GDR for his prodigious talent and his ability to thrill people with his absolute dedication to the magic of the theatre. Besson represented the big wide world out there, and the creative tensions between different worlds resulted in outstanding productions such as Der Drache [The Dragon] at Deutsches Theater, and his take on Der gute Mensch von Sezuan [The Good Person of Szechwan] at the Volksbühne, where Besson was instrumental in establishing a new, fresher style of acting and directing. Over time, however, the narrow-mindedness of socialist officials spoilt his ambitions and drove him to Paris in 1978, leaving the GDR for good. But his artistic credo “Let‘s play! Play! Play!” has remained and left its traces with many fellow actors and players. That’s the driving force for us to celebrate his 100th birthday with plays, films, music, talks and a few surprises.

We will also show the film Benno Besson – Der fremde Freund (Switzerland 1992, directed by Philippe Macasdar) on the screen of the main stage Großes Haus. A documentary and detailed reconstruction of the different stages of Besson’s life, it includes film and audio recordings, as well as conversations with the actor and director. Afterwards we invite you to to join and share memories of BB at Roter Salon and have a good drink on him.

A cooperation of the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz with the Akademie der Künste Berlin in collaboration with the Berliner Ensemble, the Deutsches Theater and the Verein Schweizerisches Theatermuseum.

With: Katharina Thalbach, Pierre Besson, Hildegard Alex, Philippe Besson, Hermann Beyer, Inga Busch, Friedrich Dieckmann, Samuel Finzi, Winfried Glatzeder, Christian Grashof, Christoph Hein, Paul Herwig, Henry Hübchen (im Film), Manfred Karge, Josefin Platt, Walfriede Schmitt, Tamer Tahan, Nellie Thalbach, Ezio Toffolutti