Thomas Kaufmann, also known as Bernd Seifert, was born in Halle in 1977, but moved straight from the maternity ward to Dresden, where he has lived ever since.
He got his first taste of theatre at the age of five, during a visit to the fairy-tale opera „Hänsel und Gretel". When he saw the witch flying across the stage of the Dresdner Schauspielhaus on her broom, pulled along by a wire, his enthusiasm for theatre never left him.
A few years later, while still in primary school, he founded his first theatre group and used it to stage the third act of that fairy-tale opera. The only performance of the work took place in the family living room, but under expert supervision: tenor Peter Schreier sat among grandmothers and aunts in the audience – at the young „director"’s personal invitation.
Towards the end of their school years, Thomas Kaufmann met Marten Ernst. They got to know each other while attending a production of Richard O' Brien's „The Rocky Horror Show" at Staatsschauspiel Dresden. The encounter developed into a friendship in which both men’s enthusiasm for theatre has endured to this day.
Later, the two worked in the event agency founded by Marten Ernst and learned the event business from the ground up. Thomas focused mainly on press and marketing work, but also worked as a freelance performer.
When the former event agency became Boulevardtheater Dresden in 2014, Thomas Kaufmann was also responsible for advertising and press work there. But, as theatre life goes, he kept returning to the stage as well.
In "Die Olsenbande dreht durch", he appeared as Dynamit-Harry and also took on roles in „Das singende, klingende Bäumchen", in "Herr Lehrer, Fräulein Lustig schwänzt!", "Die Fete endet nie..." and in "Herr Landwirt, Ihre Gurke wächst!".
In 2015, he developed the character of Bernd Seifert, a Dresden original – a quirky master plumber and enthusiastic theatre fan – with the Boulevardtheater Dresden.
With the production "Family Bernd Seifert – A Dresden Comedy," he not only got his own play at the Boulevard Theatre – the supposed plumber was also declared the "mascot of the house." For over seven years, Bernd Seifert carried on his antics without Thomas Kaufmann: the fact that Kaufmann was behind the plumber's facade was successfully kept secret. Bernd Seifert led his own separate life and still represents the theatre today as a presenter and at official events. Bernd Seifert's true identity was only revealed in 2022.
Im gleichen Jahr brachte Thomas Kaufmann sein erstes Soloprogramm auf die Bühne. Mit „Mein Freund, der betrunkene Sachse" schuf Kaufmann eine Hommage auf den 2019 verstorbenen Kabarettisten Olaf Böhme. 2024 übernahm er die Regie für "Die Olsenbande wechselt die Windeln" und zeichnet, gemeinsam mit dem Schauspieler Volker Zack, auch für das Buch verantwortlich.
The Ringelnatz quote, "Humor is the button that keeps us from losing our temper," is Thomas Kaufmann's motto in life. And when he's not at the theater, he enjoys nothing more than spending time with his family, summer evenings on the Elbe River, and the sound of a single malt whisky bottle being opened.