Sammy Van den Heuvel — scenography            

Each space grows within a specific frame that is shaped through dialogue; with the director, with the choreographer, with the text, the music, the materials, with the dramaturg, with the production team, with the artists and builders in the workshops, with the stage technicians. Ultimately, the built space engages in a dialogue with the performers, and, through them, in a conversation with the audience.

 
/Deutsche Oper Berlin 2021
At night, a man comes running towards you in the street. Should you talk to him? Does he need help? In his short story “The passers-by”, Franz Kafka describes a situation that challenges you to consider whether to intervene—and, if you don’t, at least to demand justification for your inaction. 

Kafka's text raises fundamental questions about moral courage, humanity, and civil disobedience. This is the starting point for Gerhild Steinbuch’s libretto, put to music by composer Andrej Koroliov. The audience is seated on either side of an imposing bridge that cuts through the space — the opera’s former wood workshop. As situations on stage grow increasingly more tense, the bridge teases the characters into certain patterns and positions.

musical direction Vicente Larrañaga / direction Theresa von Halle / dramaturgy Sebastian Hanusa / scenography, costume and light design Sammy Van den Heuvel