francaisdeutschenglish

Dominique Caillat

<< back

Personal / Education

Born in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Swiss national. Primary and secondary school in Paris and The Hague. Member of the Swiss National Golf Team 1970-1977 (Swiss Girls Champion 1977). Law studies in Geneva (J.D. 1974) and New York (LL.M Columbia Law School 1979). New York Bar Exam 1980, Geneva Bar Exam 1984. Worked as a legal associate and lawyer in New York, Minneapolis, Brussels, Munich and Geneva 1979-1985. Fluent in French (mother language), English and German.

Drama Training (1986-1991)

1986-1987: Ecole d'acteur Serge Martin/Jacques Lecoq and Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique, (Geneva).

1987-1988: 2nd academic year at Cours Florent (Paris). Directed: Sire Halewyn/Ghelderode.

1989: Summer School at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art (London), thereafter private tuition with teachers of Webber-Douglas (Caryll Ziegler/Stewart Pearce) and with Dorothea Alexander (†) (former teacher at RADA).

2000-2006: Acting workshops with Geraldine Baron (Actors Studio), Toby Jones (Théâtre de Complicité); Directors’ Course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. Directed Ice Cream/Kay Adshead with students of RADA.

Professional Theatre Experience

1990: Member of the Bac-to-bac Theatre company (TIE/London), 6 months-tour alternately in London and in the province with the play Si Tak Anji.

1991-1992: State Theatre of Rhineland-Palatinate (Neuwied). Assistant-director in the following productions: Das Mißverständnis/Camus; Hoffmanns Erzählungen/Offenbach; Die Frau von Meer/Ibsen; Aschenputtel/ Grimm.

1992: Founded the "Theater in der Vorburg" in Namedy Castle on the Rhine (Andernach), a youth theatre school. Purpose: Drama training (emphasis: acting technique, improvisation, speech/voice), productions, tours. Function: Director/Teacher/Author/Producer. 50 pupils aged 12-20.

Productions of the Theater in der Vorburg
(with youth actors) 1993-2000

1993: Wrote and directed Caspar Hauser. Performances in Namedy Castle.

1994: Adapted for the stage and directed Les Misérables. Performances in Namedy Castle.

1995: Wrote and directed Ein Schloss erzählt. (Commission of the Ministry of Culture of Rhineland-Palatinate and the international music foundation "Villa Musica"). Performances in Engers Castle.

1996: Directed Die Dreigroschenoper/Brecht-Weill. Statewide tour, as part of the "Cultural Summer of Rhineland-Palatinate".

1996: Wrote and directed Brunos Traum. (Commission of the Ministry of Culture of Rh.-P.). Tour in Rh.-P. and North Rhine-Westphalien as part of the "Cultural Summer of Rhinelanfd-Palatinate".

1997: Revival of Die Dreigroschenoper.

1997-1998: Wrote and directed Leb wohl, Schmetterling ("Farewell Butterfly"). Tour in Rhineland, performances in Bonn and Cologne. Official invitations to the Czech Republic (performances in Prague and Terezin) and to Israel (performances in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Hazorea).

Sept. 1998: Winner of the Rhineland-Palatinate Youth Cultural Prize for Leb wohl, Schmetterling

1999: Performance of Leb wohl, Schmetterling in the old German Parliament in Bonn as part of the national commemoration ceremonies on the "Day of the Victims of National Socialism".

1999-2000: Wrote and directed Eine Nachkriegsballade. (Commission of the State of Rh.-P.). Tour in Rh.-P. and North Rh.-W. Performances in Brussels at the invitation of the "Goethe Institut".

Nov. 2000: Revival of Leb wohl, Schmetterling for the International "Nine Gates" Festival of Jewish Culture in the Czech Republic(Performances in Prague and Pilsen).

June 2001: Winner of the cultural Prize of Koblenz/Mayen "Forum Artis Plaudit"

Professional theatre productions (as of 1999)

1999: Wrote for the Chamber Opera of Vienna a Prologue, Scene and Epilogue for Brundibár (Krása-Hoffmeister). Performances in the Vienna Chamber Opera and in the auditorium of the Austrian Broadcast Corp. (ORF).

2000-2006: Wrote and directed 4 commissioned one-man-shows (Gladiator Valerius, Der Ewige Soldat, Die Muse von Stolzenfels, Der Kunstsinnige König) for various monuments and castles belonging to the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. These open-air shows run every year 2 to 8 times a week from April to October at each venue. They are invariably sold-out.

2003: Wrote and directed Niemandsland for the Youth Theatre of Koblenz, a play about youth violence and the problems of young immigrants, performances in the Kulturfabrik in Sept.-Oct. 2003. Sold out run.

2004-2005: Wrote and directed Kidnapping, a German-Israeli-Palestinian Theatre project about the Middle-East Conflict, which opened at the State Theatre of Mainz on December 13, 2004. International tour in Germany and Switzerland from Dec. 2004 – Nov. 2005 (30 performances).

2006: Co-author with Fabian Scheidler of Salam Berlin, about cultural tensions in the youth Muslim immigrant community (published by Österreichischer Bühnenverlag Kaiser).

2007: État de Piège, a thoroughly rewritten version of Kidnapping. 4 weeks sold-out run in November-December 2007 at the Théâtre de Carouge, directed by François Rochaix.

2007: Publication of La Paix ou la Mort (Death or Peace), a a non-fiction book about the author’s research journeys to Israel and Palestine from 1997 until 2007 (Labor & Fides, Geneva).

2008: Wrote Darwin’s Confession (in French and in German), a play about Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution, commissioned by the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences for Darwin’s Bicentennial.

2009: Double world premiere in November 2009 of Darwin’s Confession in its two language versions: La confession de Darwin (directed by F. Rochaix, Geneva) and Darwins Beichte (directed by Martin Murr, Imprimerie Theater, Basel). Both productions go on tour with 40 to 50 performances in 11 Swiss cities until the end of the year.

2009: Caillat’s libretto concept for a staged oratorio, The Children’s Crusade, won an award from the Swiss cultural foundation Pro Helvetia.

2011: Wrote and directed a short version of Der ewige Soldat for the Bundesgartenschau in Koblenz, to be performed daily from April to October 2011.

2011: Adapted Gladiator Valerius for an audio-version on CD, coming out in April.

Television and Radio Broadcasts

Leb wohl, Schmetterling: 3SAT (“Kulturreport“), SWR (“Landesschau“), Tschechisches Fernsehen (30 Min. Documentary Film by Olga Struškova). Jerusalem International Festival of Documentary Films (idem). SWF 4 (60 min. programme “Leute, Lieder, Landschaften“), Saarland Radio (same), SWR 2 (“Kultur Aktuell“), SWF 4 (“Blickpunkt“), Radio Prag (portrait) und ORF (same). Brundibár: ORF (live Broadcast of a performance of Brundibár at the Vienna Chamber Opera). Eine Nachkriegsballade: SWR 4 (“Kultur”). Gladiator Valerius, Der ewige Soldat, Die Muse von Stolzenfels: cultural news reports on SWR (“Landesschau“, etc.), ARD („Bilderbuch Deutschland”, “Fahr mal hin”), and Canal 10. Niemandsland: SWR (“Landesschau”), SWR2 und SWR 4 (“Kultur aktuell”, “Contra)”. Other: SWR 2 (Forum: “Do Hamlet for me“, Debate with George Delnon, Director of the State Theatre of Mainz). Kidnapping: ARD (“Tagesthemen”, “Nachtmagazin”), SWR (“Landesschau” and “Kulturreport”). État de piège: TSR, Léman Bleu, Espace 2, RSR 1, DSR, RSI, Radio Zone, etc. La Confession de Darwin : Espace 2 (Impatience). Portrait of DC 2011 : Domradio Köln (Menschen, 2h).

Lectures

2008 : « Proche-Orient : rêves et réalité », annual conference of the Geneva Société Académique.

2010 : « Après Darwin : Triomphes, dérives et techno-biologie », Société de Lecture (Geneva), Forum International des Femmes (Geneva), Jacqueline Effront Conferences  (Aix-en Provence). « Proche-Orient : les sources historiques du conflit israélo-palestinien » (Français du Monde-Berlin).

2011 : « Après Darwin », Français du Monde-Berlin.

Artistic Management

2001-2007:  Artistic advisor of the music series “Konzerte Burg Namedy”, organising ca. 20 cultural events every year in Namedy Castle (mostly classical chamber music and jazz).

 

top