»The adventure begins. I’m like Indiana Jones and I still have to find out if these are the people who help me out of the labyrinth, or if they lure me into a trap.«Jeffrey Döring (artistic director of »Burning Snow«)
In German it’s called »Konzeptionsprobe«: a rehearsal in which the director presents the concept of the production to the team. It’s always the scariest rehearsal for the director. Do the actors like the concept? Do they like the costumes? Is there anything interesting I am talking about?
In addition to that I never worked with one of the team members before (except a few days with Lisa). It’s not only an aesthetic experiment (because opera singers meet actors, sound designers meet stage designers) first of all it’s an sociological experiment for me. Can we spend the following five weeks of your life together without killing each other? Because when you are putting a team together it’s not only about finding the most talented artists. It’s really important that you find colleagues who can even work with each other – especially when they are actors or singers.
I’m talking the whole time. Why is this fairy tale so much more than a fairy tale? Why do I want to work on the phenomenon of high sensitivity? How can we create an interaction between projection mapping, sound design, and acting? What kind of characters do we explore in the following weeks? Why do the costumes look like they do? Why does the stage look like it does? And it goes on and on and on.
I am always happy when someone asks something. A short break for me. I am even happier when Mariam and Johana present the design of costumes and stage or when Felix presents his ideas regarding sound design. But then I feel like I have to add something again, because I really want the actors to love the project. Otherwise I’m not the director of the production but the guy who has to motivate the actors to do something onstage. And that’s something completely different.
But everyone really seems to be interested. I guess they’re willing to act, to experiment, to explore and to fail as well. The adventure begins. I’m like Indiana Jones and I still have to find out if these are the people who help me out of the labyrinth, or if they lure me into a trap.
Goldstaub team during the Brennender Schnee/Burning Snow production:
Jeffrey Döring – artistic director
Mariam Haas – set designer
Johana Gomez – set designer
Felix Nagl – sound designer
Iris Schwarz – motion designer
Simon Greiner – motion designer
Elmar Mellert – designer of the art book
Lisa Ströckens – soprano/ actress
Laila Richter – actress
Johannes May – actor
Pascal Zurek – bass baritone/ actor
