Philippe Heule
Writer, director, performer
Philippe Heule (*1986) grew up in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley. He studied acting, directing and scenic writing in Hamburg, Zurich and Berlin. He writes, directs and develops plays in various contexts. He was an in-house author at Theatre Basel, founded the performance collective helium x and realised independent productions in collaboration, for example “Die Schokoladenwaffenfabrik” with Michela Flück. In 2017, he received the audience award for “Die grosse Krise” at the European festival for young directors FAST FORWARD at the Staatsschauspiel Dresden and in 2020 the shared author prize at the Heidelberg Stückemarkt for “das Haus brennt”. Heule is a regular guest lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts and at the Hora Theatre. Most recently, he created plays with and for young people at LAB Junges Theater Zurich and Theatre Marie, among others. In 2024, he took part in the Prose Writers’ Workshop at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin. Heule is currently working on his debut novel. He lives in Zurich and elsewhere.
Philippe Heule as participant of the International Forum 2018:
Author, director, performer – Zurich, Switzerland
Author and director Philippe Heule was born in the Rhine valley of St.Gallen in 1986. After training as an actor in Hamburg, he studied Theatre Directing at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and was a guest student at the course for Creative Writing for the Stage at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). In 2012, he received ZHdK’s advancement award. His projects have been presented at various theatres and festivals (among them Theater Neumarkt Zurich, Luzerner Theater, Theater Rampe Stuttgart, Zürcher Theater Spektakel, Festival ARENA… der jungen Künste Erlangen, Kaltstart Theaterfestival Hamburg and Wildwuchs Festival Basel). He founded the performance collective “helium x”, which presented the performance “Die große Schlacht” at the 2015 festival Treibstoff Theatertage Basel. The sequel production “Die große Krise” recently won the audience award at Fast Forward – European Festival for young Directors in Dresden. His play “Die Simulanten” was premiered at Theater Dortmund in 2016, as a coproduction with the festival Ruhrfestspiele and directed by Claudia Bauer. During the 2015/16 season, Philippe Heule was author-in-residence at Theater Basel. In 2016, his play “retten, was zu retten ist” was premiered there, directed by Felicitas Brucker. During the 2016/17 season, he wrote a text for “Das Schweigen der Schweizer” at Theater St. Gallen. This production, directed by Sophia Bodamer, was invited to the Swiss Theatertreffen. Philippe Heule is currently writing a play for the 2018/19 season at Theater St. Gallen, which he will direct himself.
As of: April 2025