Beatrix Bühler was born in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1948 and studied drama, philosophy and German in Vienna and Berlin. From 1981 onwards, she worked under Peter Borchardt as an assistant director, director and dramaturge at the Stadttheater Bern. Borchardt launched a series of guest performances entitled “Aua, wir leben!” in which Bühler was involved from 1985 onwards. 1982, then, is considered the year in which the auawirleben contemporary theatre festival was born. In 1988 the festival parted company with the Stadttheater and was continued by Borchardt and Bühler. Trix Bühler has been its artistic director since 1999, working with varying teams; currently, her co-director is Nicolette Kretz. She is also a director in her own right, regularly staging premieres of Swiss writers including Guy Krneta.
Small in scale but highly regarded, this theatre encounter in Bern has dealt with topical social issues and subjects from the outset: “no world-wide-wintention, but rather an intentional linking together of the most diverse forms of theatrical expression motivated by interest”, as the website puts it. In 1997 Bühler and Borchardt received the City of Bern’s Sisyphus Prize for the theatre festival auawirleben and their work in promoting contemporary drama. On 25 April 2014 Trix Bühler received the Prix Suisseculture, not least in recognition of her achievements in building bridges between the independent scene and the city theatres
“Beatrix Bühler is as unique as the auawirleben festival that she has shaped without ever dominating it. Both have character and attitude, their enthusiasm for theatre and its palpable interest in the world unerringly infectious. Trix Bühler is director, curator, networker and talent scout, all rolled into one. She is as unprejudiced as she is partisan, and as heartfelt as she is tenacious where artists are concerned. We need more like her.”
