Ersan Mondtag works as an interdisciplinary artist, primarily in the fields of visual art and theatre. In recent years he has also become a successful opera director. He creates his own sets and costumes for his productions.
By the age of 30 he had already received major awards both for his directing and for his set and costume designs. He was named Newcomer of the Year (Directing) in 2016 and Costume Designer of the Year in 2017 by the magazine Theater heute. Also in 2017, the critics’ poll of the magazine Die deutsche Bühne named him Set Designer of the Year. In 2025 he was awarded the Berliner Bär culture prize by the Berliner Zeitung.
His key productions have included Sam Max’s Double Serpent at the Wiesbaden State Theatre in 2024, Alexander Kerlin and Matthias Seier’s Das Internat at the Schauspiel Dortmund in 2018, Olga Bach’s Die Vernichtung at the Bühnen Bern in 2016 and Tyrannis at the Kassel State Theatre in 2015. All four productions were invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen.
In 2020 he made his debut as an opera director with Schreker’s Der Schmied von Gent at the Opera Vlaanderen, in a co-production with the Mannheim National Theatre. He went on to stage Weill’s Der Silbersee (2021) at the Opera Vlaanderen in a co-production with the Opéra national de Nancy-Lorraine, Rued Langgaard’s Antikrist (2022) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (also released on DVD), a double-bill of Gianni Schicchi and L’Heure espagnole (2024) at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, La forza del destino (2025) at the Opéra national de Lyon, Salome (2025) at the Opera Vlaanderen, Braunfels’s Die Vögel (2026) in Wiesbaden and Les Pêcheurs de perles (2026) at the Vienna State Opera.
He also directed Sibylle Berg’s Toto oder Vielen Dank für das Leben at the Vienna Burgtheater in 2024 and Albert Ostermaier’s Munich Machine at the Residenztheater in Munich in 2026.
Ersan Mondtag designed the German Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale. At the heart of his Thresholds installation was his artwork Monument of an Unknown Man, which was also displayed at Berlin’s König Galerie under the title Asbest.
