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Født i Dundee, Skotland. Efter studier på universiteterne i Aberdeen og Zürich, hvor han grundlagde mime-ensemblet Bending Body Theatre, underviste han kortvarigt i sprog. I 1979 begyndte han på École internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq i Paris og blev meget begejstret for tanken om at optræde på så mange sprog og i så mange lande som muligt. Som barn gik han til stemmetræning og lærte at bruge mellemgulvet: Skub de nederste ribben ud – lad åndedrættet komme frit.

I Zürich lærte han Christoph Marthaler at kende, og de begyndte at optræde sammen – både på gaden og på scenen. Dette samarbejde udviklede sig over årene, men først samlede han erfaring i Storbritannien. Takket være sine sprogkundskaber og musikalske evner fik han rollen som Venerdì i Un rè in ascolto af Luciano Berio i Royal Opera House i Graham Vicks opsætning. Siden da har han hovedsageligt arbejdet som teaterskuespiller og artiste lyrique over hele Europa.

Han har medvirket i mange af Marthalers produktioner, herunder The Unanswered Question, Stunde Null, Winch Only, Contes d’Hoffman, Lear af Aribert Reimann, Pierrot Lunaire, Une Île flottante, Aucune Idée, Le Sommet og Doktor Watzenreuthers Vermächtnis. Han har skabt rollen som Henry the Dog i Bählamms Fest af Olga Neuwirth og rollen som Robinson i Arbeit Nahrung Wohnung af Enno Poppe.

Som vokalsolist har han optrådt i L'Histoire du soldat af Igor Stravinsky med Ensemble Intercontemporain, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group og Hebrides Ensemble samt i Façade af William Walton og Edith Sitwell med Ensemble Phoenix Basel, hvor han også spillede Punch i Punch and Judy af Harrison Birtwistle. For nylig har han samarbejdet med Alexander Maria Wagner om skabelsen og indspilningen af sangcyklussen Käfer töten.

English:

Born in Dundee, Scotland. After studies at Aberdeen and Zürich universities, during which
time he founded a mime ensemble Bending Body Theatre, he briefly taught languages. In 1979
he went to Lecoq’s theatre school in Paris and got very excited at the idea of performing in
as many languages and countries as possible. As a child he was sent to elocution lessons and
knew how to operate the diaphragm: Throw out the lower ribs - let the breath away. In Zürich he
got to know Christoph Marthaler and they performed together in the street and onstage.
This developed further over the years, but first he gathered experience in the UK. Through
his knowledge of languages and musical ability he got his hands on the rôle of Venerdì in Un
rè in ascolto (Berio) in Graham Vick’s Covent Garden production and since then he has been
working mainly as a theatre actor and “artiste lyrique” throughout Europe. He has
appeared in many Marthaler productions, such as The Unanswered Question, Stunde Null, Winch
Only, Contes d’Hoffman, Reimann’s Lear, Pierrot Lunaire, Une Île flottante, Aucune Idée, Le Sommet,
Doktor Watzenreuthers Vermächtnis; he created the roles of Henry the Dog in Olga Neuwirth’s
Bählamms Fest, of Robinson in Enno Poppe’s Arbeit Nahrung Wohnung; and performed as vocal
soloist in Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale with Ensemble Intercontemporain, Birmingham
Contemporary Music Group and the Hebrides Ensemble as well as in Walton and Sitwell's
Façade with Ensemble Phoenix, with which he also played Punch in Birtwistle's Punch and
Judy. Recently he collaborated with the composer Alexander Maria Wagner in the creation
and recording of his song-cycle Käfer töten.