Meta Theater, Moosach

As an architect Axel Tangerding was strongly influenced by the Bauhaus Tradition with its clear design language of clean forms, in his theatre career he was influenced by Ellen Stewart and her La Mama Experimental Theatre in New York and Jerzy Grotowskis Teatr Laboratorium in Wroclaw, Poland. In the search for a theatre based on movement expression, language experiences and music sounds Meta Theatre is in exchange specially with asian artists. Meta Theatre Munich was founded in 1980 by Axel Tangerding as actor and artistic director, developing a serie of uniques productions, organizing international touring and exchange with non-european artists. Since 1990 Axel Tangerding started with the idea of an intercultural theatre as a forum and directed Gilgamesch and Babylon . The active rememberance is the point of departure for this theatre activity, finding cultural identity. The last years Axel Tangerding is focusing on new music theatre research and has so far produced Strange Stories (dance theatre with new music), Somehow Different (children`s opera, commissioned work) and recently started Musicophilia (commissioned work directed by Yoshi Oida, text by Oliver Sacks). As architect he recently developed a theatre building for a swedish theatre company, Teatermaskinen in Riddyrhyttan, located 2 hours north-west of Stockholm in a former mining area. The building complex is called “Workspace Riddarhyttan”, hosting an experimental theatre space, a studio for light, sound and video, a workshop, a foyer, a service unit, a guest house for artists in residence (for European projects). The task was, to develop a design under “green” criterias concerning energy, materials and sustainability. The first unit will be finished until 2011 and until 2012 the total compound will be finished, including an amphitheatre and a sauna at the lake side.