by Emanuela Zilio
Today I take you to Berlin, into the beating heart of the Volksbühne. Here, far from the spotlight, 47 artisans work tirelessly to bring to life the sets and costumes that the audience admires on stage.
On September 25, the theatre opened its new season with Peer Gynt. While most of the staff enjoyed the summer break, the workshops reopened early in mid-August: there was still much to be done to complete the Bühne and the Kostüme that had been in progress since spring.Every stage design begins as a digital model, sketched on a computer in the workshop offices.
Once it receives approval from the director’s team, the project becomes material: wood, metal, paint, and decorations take shape thanks to the skilled hands of the Werkstatt, led by Stefan Möllers. In the Pankow warehouses, the carpentry, metalwork, and decoration departments transform the vision into three-dimensional reality, while on the fourth floor of the Volksbühne, the master tailors turn the costume designers’ ideas into fabric.