Franz Xaver Zach

Franz Xaver Zach, born in 1954 in Vienna, grew up in the USA, Australia, and Austria. From 1975 to 1978, he studied at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. After completing his studies, he joined the Staatstheater Stuttgart under the directorship of Claus Peymann, who brought him to Bochum from 1979 to 1986. Following a period as a freelance actor — with performances in Vienna, Mainz, New York, and Frankfurt, among others — he held engagements as both actor and director at the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt, the Schauspielhaus Mainz, and the Theater Oberhausen. There, he directed productions such as Mother Courage and George Tabori’s The Goldberg Variations. At the Salzburg Festival, he appeared in Julius Caesar directed by Peter Stein. Further engagements followed at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus (1996–2000), the Schauspielhaus Bochum (2000–2008), and from 2009 to 2021 at the Schauspielhaus Graz.