Ersan Mondtag

Director Ersan Mondtag has one of the most distinctive theatrical visions of recent generations, which he brings to life through stunning stage and costume designs. In recent years he has successfully transferred these artistic sensibilities to opera, breaking new ground in the possibilities of the form and winning critical acclaim. 

Mondtag was born in Berlin and having dropped out of performing arts college, co-founded the KAPITÆL ZWEI KOLEKTIF in Munich, with whom he experimented with multidisciplinary forms, developing durational performances and installations. By the age of 30 Mondtag was winning awards in the three areas, as director, costume designer and set designer. He has been invited to the prestigious Berlin Theatertreffen festival three times in only four years. 

Mondtag made his opera debut in 2020 with Schreker’s Der Schmied von Gent for Opera Vlaanderen in Antwerp and Ghent, and returned to Opera Vlaanderen to direct Der Silbersee. His production of Langgaard’s Antikrist opened at Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2022 and was recently released on DVD. Future plans include debuts and returns to Festival Puccini Torre del Lago, Opera Vlaanderen, Gorki Theatre, Opéra de Lyon, Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Berliner Ensemble, Burgtheater and the Wiener Staatsoper, among others.

He recently designed the German Pavilion for La Biennale d’Arte di Venezia: an ‘unclassifiable piece that can be read as a wretched, furious monument (the New Yorker); and the ‘most out-there national pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale’ (ART News).