Company

Floriana Frassetto

Floriana Frassetto (Swiss) is the daughter of Italian emigrants to the States (Norfolk, Virginia), she studied at Alessandro Fersen's Theatre Academia in Rome from 1967 to 1969. She completed her training as actress attending a comprehensive course (mime, acrobatics, dance) at Roy Bosier's Teatro Studio. Between 1969 and November 1970, she worked in Rome in several pantomime and theatre productions. The idea of founding MUMMENSCHANZ resulted from meeting, in 1972, Andres Bossard and Bernie Schürch ... two young Swiss clowns called Before and Lost.

She has since then co-invented the repertoire of MUMMENSCHANZ and played in each performance. The creation of costumes, the choreography of Giancarlo Sbragia "Faust" played in the Roman amphitheatre of Taormina (Sicily), the staging of some MUMMENSCHANZ scenes for André Heller's musical Body and Soul, the artistic collaboration with Isabelle Baudet for the children musical Oliver Twist in Lausanne (Switzerland) all rank among her best individual achievements.

Christa Barrett

Christa Barrett (Swiss), was born in Fribourg in 1990. At the age of 17, she joined the Zirkus Chnopf and the Cirque de Loin for three years. Following this, she entered the Accademia Teatro Dimitri in Verscio, Switzerland. During her studies, she won the physical theater studentship award from Migros Kulturprozent twice. In 2014 she received her Bachelor's in Physical Theater. Since then, Christa has worked with different theater companies, including „Poyo Furioso“ directed by Hermes Gaido, „Fiorenza Ensemble“ directed by Eveline Ratering and „Commedia Origen Festival“ directed by Fabrizio Pestilli. Since summer 2016 Christa has been a member of the MUMMENSCHANZ company.

Kevin Blaser

Kevin Blaser (Swiss), born in 1990, is a young artist from Ticino. In his early age he showed a strong interest in movement and art. He stood out in gymnastics and in skateboarding in which he finds a companion with whom he travels the world. Passionate for music, he perfected his skills in percussion and drums, with which he continues to play in various bands. Through theatre he discovered a means for full expression of himself and entered the school for physical theatre Accademia Teatro Dimitri, where he obtained his Bachelor in 2015. He played in different theatre and cinema productions as „Gilgamesh“ (from Patrizia Barbuiani), „Gotthard 2016“ (from Volker Hesse), „Tutti Giù“ (from Niccolò Castelli). In July 2016 he started his journey with the MUMMENSCHANZ company.

Tess Burla

Tess Burla was born in 1981 and grew up in Murten, Switzerland. After completing her studies in psychomotor therapy, she trained as a dancer in Barcelona and Berlin. In 2009, she completed a master’s in dance education at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). She has been a member of Cie Chapeau (and formerly Paula fliegt) since 2015. She gained experience working with Marcel Leemann, and as part of Brigitta Schrepferʼs Somafon, human kinetics movements arts, and Collectif de Marchepied. Burla works as a freelance dancer and is a founding member of cie deux plus. In addition to dance performances in collaboration with live musicians (Simone Abplanalp and Ursula Hofmann), she also made an appearance as part of the clown duo Nasva and Ravu in 2018. Her journey with MUMMENSCHANZ began in 2019.

Samuel Müller

Samuel Müller (1986) grew up in Ticino and in Bern. 2004-2007 he obtained a Bachelor in Physical Theatre at the "Accademia Teatro Dimitri" SUPSI in Verscio. In 2010 he starts his Master studies at the "Accademia Teatro Dimitri", which he finishes with his Master thesis "Backwoodsman". In 2014 he shows his play at the International Theatre Festival of Theatre Schools in Rome, winning the 'Gemini d'oro' for best performer. Since 2014 he has been touring with the family project "Dimitrigenerations" with Famiglia Dimitri. He performed in various theater and opera productions in Italy and abroad. In 2022/2203 he plays in the play "Block" by the theater Madame Bissegger. Samuel has been a member of MUMMENSCHANZ since 2023.

Sarah Lerch

Sarah Lerch was born in 1983 and grew up in Bern, Switzerland. She studied acting at the Accademia Teatro Dimitri before going on to create her own dance and theater productions. From 2009 to 2011, she toured throughout Europe with the Czech company Continuo Theatre. She then returned to Switzerland and completed a Master’s degree in Physical Theatre at the ATD. She is a two-time winner of the Migros Kulturprozent competition and a member of the Swiss Study Foundation. In 2014, she co-founded the international company Wakouwa Teatro and gave birth to a baby boy. She is a versatile performer and choreographer working on a variety of major stage projects, with collaborators such as Volker Hesse, and regularly teaches acrobatics and aerial silks. From 2019 to 2020, she was co-director of the Theaterzirkus Wunderplunder with Kevin Blaser. Sarah joined MUMMENSCHANZ in 2021 for its 50th anniversary production.

Manuel Schunter

Manuel Schunter was born in Munich (Germany) in 1985 and has lived primarily in Switzerland since 2007. He completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Theatre at the Accademia Teatro Dimitri and a Master’s Degree in Expanded Theatre at the Bern University of the Arts. He has since given numerous performances and toured as a clown in the world of circus and vaudeville (with Circus Monti, Circus Roncalli, Das Zelt, Circus Sarrasani and at Circus Knie’s centenary celebrations, among others). He was a permanent ensemble member with the Theater Madame Bissegger and the Origen Festival. Manuel’s theater engagements have included performances with the Stadttheater Freiburg, LAC Lugano, and Espace Nuithonie. Besides his activities as a performer, he also directs various stage productions and lectures at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Manuel has been a member of MUMMENSCHANZ since the summer of 2022.

Eric Sauge

Eric Sauge (Swiss) is the Technical Director of the company. With over 10 years of experience in the entertainment business, he now specializes in lighting and machinery effects. Employment by large organizations afforded him the opportunity to travel the world. Through his experience and many trips abroad he acquired solid knowledge in technical and team management. Back in Switzerland, he trained in the field of event lighting as console operator and project manager. In 2014 he met MUMMENSCHANZ in Lausanne, and joined them as their Technical Director.

Marc Reinhardt

Since September 2018, Marc Reinhardt has been managing the operations of the MUMMENSCHANZ Foundation as Managing Director. Born in St. Gallen (Switzerland) in 1964, Marc Reinhardt has extensive experience in media, marketing, communications, culture, show business and general management. He spent eleven years working in radio as a journalist, presenter and music director before switching to the communications industry. For another ten years, Marc Reinhardt held executive positions in various communications agencies, before spending eight years as head of marketing and communications in companies and organisations. Among other things, he headed up the marketing and communications department of the then largest promoter in Switzerland, Good News Productions AG in Zurich. Marc Reinhardt is a Swiss-certified PR consultant and has holds an MA in Communication Management and Leadership as well as an Executive MBA from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences.