Barrie Kosky’s Transnational Theatres

This book provides a thorough examination of Barrie Kosky's influential career in theatre and opera, highlighting his innovative contributions and transnational impact.

This insightful work explores the remarkable career of Barrie Kosky, a prominent Australian-German theatre and opera director. Barrie Kosky’s Transnational Theatres offers a comprehensive survey of his extensive contributions to the performing arts, spanning from his early days in Melbourne to his current role as Head of the Komische Oper Berlin. The book is structured into nine chapters, each providing multidisciplinary analyses of Kosky’s diverse working practices and stage productions, allowing readers to appreciate the depth and breadth of his artistic endeavors.

Contributions from specialists in theatre studies, opera studies, musical theatre studies, aesthetics, and arts administration enrich the narrative, offering in-depth accounts of Kosky's engagements with various forms of performance. His work as a director of spoken theatre, operas, musicals, operettas, as well as his roles as an adaptor, performer, writer, and arts manager, are thoroughly examined. The text also includes perspectives from theatre practitioners who collaborated with Kosky in the 1990s, featuring interviews with members of Gilgul, Australia's first Jewish theatre company, which document a pivotal period in his artistic journey.

Furthermore, Barrie Kosky’s Transnational Theatres investigates how Kosky has shaped transnational theatre, incorporating European themes and techniques into his Australian productions while also introducing new voices to the German theatre landscape. An appendix provides a timeline and guide to Kosky's productions, making this book an essential resource for anyone interested in contemporary theatre and its evolution.