Klaus Händl (born 17 September 1969) is an Austrian actor, writer and director.
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Biography
Händl was born in Rum, Tyrol, Austria. He started his theater career as an actor in Vienna's Schauspielhaus. His first theatrical production, which he also directed, was premiered in the Styrian autumn festival Steirischer Herbst at Graz. He has also appeared in several films.
As a director, he made the feature films März in 2008, and Tomcat in 2016, both of which were credited to Händl Klaus. He is a theater and film professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. He lives in Vienna, Berlin, and in Port am Bielersee, Switzerland.
His work as a writer includes collaborations as a librettist with composers such as Georg Friedrich Haas, Heinz Holliger, Hèctor Parra, and Vito Žuraj.
Works
1994: Legenden. 35 Prosastücke. Droschl Literaturverlag Graz
1995: Satz Bäurin. Klagenfurter Texte. Piper Verlag
1996: Kleine Vogelkunde. Radio play. ORF
2001: Ich ersehne die Alpen; So entstehen die Seen. Play. Rowohlt Verlag
2002: Häftling von Mab. Libretto; music: Eduard Demetz, Theater of Tyrol
2006: Dunkel lockende Welt. Play. Kammerspiele of Munich, Theater Biel-Solothurn in Switzerland, Burgtheater of Vienna. Rowohlt Verlag
2006: Vom Mond. Libretto. State Theater of Tyrol
2006: Stücke. Theater plays. Droschl Literaturverlag Graz
2007: Wilde – Der Mann mit den traurigen Augen. Theater Basel Kleine Bühne
2008: Dunkel lockende Welt. State Theater of Tyrol
2008: März. Feature film
2011: Bluthaus. Opera libretto, music by Georg Friedrich Haas. Premiere at the Schwetzingen Festival 2011.
2016: Tomcat (Kater). Feature film
2016: Koma. Opera libretto, music by Georg Friedrich Haas. Premiere at the Schwetzingen Festival 2016
2017: Der Mieter. Opera libretto, music by Arnulf Herrmann. Premiere at the Oper Frankfurt on 12 November 2017.
2018: Lunea. Opera libretto, music by Heinz Holliger. Premiere at the Opernhaus Zürich on 4 March 2018.
2019: Les Bienveillantes. Opera libretto, after the novel of the same name by Jonathan Littell, music by Hèctor Parra. Premiere at the Opera Vlaanderen on 24 April 2019.
2023: Blühen. Opera libretto, after The Black Swan by Thomas Mann, music by Vito Žuraj. Premiere at the Oper Frankfurt on 22 January 2023.
2024: Liebesgesang. Opera libretto, music by Georg Friedrich Haas. Premiere at Stadtheater Bern on 31 May 2024.
Awards
In 1996 Händl Klaus received an award for the Radio Play of the Year from the Austrian Broadcasting Service ORF. Other awards include the Rauriser Literaturpreis (Austria) and the Robert-Walser-Preis (Germany).
1995: Robert-Walser-Preis, Rauris Literature Prize
1996: ORF-Hörspielpreis "Radio Play of the Year"
2002: Subsidy of the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin
2002: Hermann-Lenz-Stipendium (subsidy)
2004: Nestroy Theatre Prize nomination as best young playwright
2005: Theater prize of the Cultural Circle of the German Economy
2006: Playwright of the Year by the magazine Theater heute ("Theater Today")
2007: Literature subsidies of Tyrol, Welti Dramatikerpreis of the city of Bern for playwrights, Feldkircher Lyrikpreis
2008: Silver Leopard for the best debut feature at the Locarno International Film Festival, for the movie März
2008: Culture Award of the city of Biel
2008: Special Award of the Jury at the Sarajevo Film Festival for the movie März
2008: Berner Filmpreis for the movie März
2016: Teddy Award for the movie Tomcat (Kater)
