Paul-Georg
Dittrich

Paul-Georg Dittrich studied directing at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg from 2007 to 2011. He has directed productions at, among others, the Stuttgart State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Köln, the Aalto Music Theatre Essen, Staatstheater Kassel, Oper Halle, Hamburg State Opera, Landestheater Linz, Volkstheater Vienna, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Theater Bremen, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Theater Heidelberg, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Münster, Schauspielhaus Vienna, Theater Augsburg, Staatstheater Schwerin, Theater Oberhausen, Theater Aachen, Theater Kiel, and Kampnagel Hamburg.

His awards and distinctions include the Rolf Mares Theatre Prize Hamburg 2018 in the category “Outstanding Production” for I.th.Ak.A. by Samuel Penderbayne at the Hamburg State Opera; a nomination for the German Theatre Prize FAUST 2017 in the category “Best Direction – Music Theatre” for Hector Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust at Theater Bremen; a nomination for the FAUST 2016 award in the same category for Alban Berg’s Wozzeck at Theater Bremen; and an invitation to the NRW Theatre Meeting 2017 with his production of Die Wand, based on the novel by Marlene Haushofer, at Theater Aachen.

Central to Dittrich’s work are poetic storytelling and the imaginative integration of audiovisual media, as well as the artistic exploration of a contemporary symbiosis between music theatre and spoken theatre, experimental forms of performance, and unconventional uses of theatrical space. At the core of his artistic approach is the idea that theatre cannot exist without conflict—that it must be a place of contradiction, as only then can dialogue between people emerge.

Paul-Georg Dittrich is also a respected voice in current academic discourse on opera and music theatre. He has published essays and articles in Die Deutsche Bühne as well as in volumes such as Oper raus!: Ästhetische Neuformatierungen und gesellschaftliche Widersprüche (Thurnauer Schriften zum Musiktheater) and Oper und Film: Geschichten einer Beziehung.

Since 2021, he has been a guest lecturer in music theatre directing at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg. He is also a founding member of the interdisciplinary music theatre collective “HearEyeSay”.

At Oper Köln, he will stage Wagner’s Ring cycle over the coming seasons. In the 2025/26 season, he directed Das Rheingold, followed by Die Walküre. In 2026/27, the cycle continues with Siegfried.