David Chotjewitz

David Chotjewitz, writer and theatre director living in Hamburg, has founded theater: playstation in 2000.

Born in Berlin, he grew up in Rome, in 1973 he moved to a small village in Germany.

As of 1982, he was trained as a publisher. He married in 1983 and his daughter, Sarah, was born the same year. His first book, the collection, „Frühreif – Texte aus der Plastiktüte“, appeared in spring of 1984. He wrote his first radio play, „Geduld Holfstätter oder Der erste Kuß“, in 1987. In 1988, he began to translate english novels and worked with independent theatre companies in Hamburg and as an assistant director at Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and in Burgtheatre, Vienna.

From 1992 to 1994, he studied with the Javanese dance and performance artist Suprapto Suryodarmo in Java. In 1994, his novel about Albert Einstein, „Das Abenteuer des Denkens“ (The Adventure of Thinking), was published and received international attention. His award-winning novel for young people, Daniel Half Human, was also published in the USA by Simon and Schuster as and has been quite successful there.

In 1999, Chotjewitz directed and produced a play based on a story by Kenzaburō Ōe, „Der einäugige Karpfen“. One year later, he founded theater: playstation, first as a theatre project for young people.

Chotjewitz has received awards such as the literature prize of the city Hamburg in 1996, a grant from the Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung in 1997 and a grant from the Stuttgarter Schriftstellerhaus in 2006. „Daniel Half Human“ received in the USA, among others, a Mildred L. Batchelder Award (Honor Book). His Novel „Crazy Diamond“ about a teenaged rockstar, who dies under unclear circumstances, was published in the USA in 2008.

In 2012 his play “Narcissus and the Revolution” that focuses on his childhood and his relationship with his father came out in Hamburg.

In recent years he has developed performance projects such as „Behörde für Lieblingslieder“ (2007/8) and „The Living Juke-Box“ (2013).

Since 1997, Chotjewitz has developed new forms of creative mediation of theatre, literature, music and performance – first together with the Hamburger Volkshochschule, then with cultural and educational institutions throughout Germany and Europe.

Bücher, Hörspiele, Theaterstücke

  • Frühreif – Texte aus der Plastiktüte, München 1984.
  • Der erste Kuß oder Geduld, Hofstätter, Hörspiel, Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1987.
  • Bücher waren ihr Schicksal, Hörspiel, Westdeutscher Rundfunk 1988.
  • Mitten in der Masse, Hörspiel, Norddeutscher Rundfunk 1989.
  • Das große Schweigen, Hörspiel, Norddeutscher Rundfunk 1992.
  • Marie ist tot, das Radio ist aus …, Hörspiel, Radio Bremen 1993.
  • Daniel – Der kindliche Held, Hörspiel, Radio Bremen 1994.
  • Das Abenteuer des Denkens, Roman über Albert Einstein, Frankfurt 1994.
  • Tödliche Safari, Roman, Frankfurt 1995.
  • Karl Marx – Roman aus dem Leben eines jungen Philosophen, Frankfurt 1996.
  • Daniel Halber Mensch, Jugendroman, Hamburg 2000.
  • Javanische Schatten, Hörspiel, NDR 2001.
  • Mr. Pitiful – Das Leben des Otis Redding, Rundfunkfeature, SDR 2002.
  • Crazy Diamond, Roman, Hamburg 2005..
  • Besuch bei Einstein / Einstein im Schnee, Theatertexte, 2019 (UA Frei)

Theaterarbeiten

  • Der einäugige Karpfen, nach Kenzaburō Ōe, Hamburg 2000
  • Die Traumwandler, Hamburg 2001
  • Blut on the Dancefloor, Hamburg 2002
  • Stirb, Popstar, stirb, Hamburg 2003
  • Boys don’t Cry, Hamburg 2005
  • Daniel Halber Mensch, Hamburg 2006
  • Die Behörde für Lieblingslieder, Hamburg 2007/2008
  • Und die Musik spielt dazu – Die Karriere der Rosita Serrano in Deutschland, Hamburg 2010
  • Narziss und die Revolution, Hamburg 2012
  • Die Lebende Jukebox, Hamburg 2013
David at theater:playstation