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The first week of rehearsals is always super exciting because of its entire novelty: the faces, the space, the script.

The first activity for everyone thus is learning names and faces; many an ‘aha’ moment is to follow among cast & crew (“So THIS is the one who got THAT role…”) and then one turns to the sacred text. During the first read-through, we stop after each scene to clarify what happens – follow the story. And for Romeo & Juliet, it’s a heck of a story! Ever realized that this play could have well ended up as a comedy? If only the Capulets hadn’t run into the Montagues on Monday, and Romeo not gone into banishment (and utter isolation as to what really happens in Verona in the meantime) on Tuesday, and Juliet’s father not pressured for a hasty marriage with Paris (also on Tuesday), and if only Friar John had been admitted to Mantua (Wednesday), and Juliet woken up 10 seconds earlier from her so-called sleep (Wednesday)… Alack. Imagine!

If only.

Well, it’s a tragedy, what can I say, and we’ll bring you some fine deaths by sword & blade, knife and poison. But before, we need to make sure that Verona’s citizens know whom to side with: the Capulets or the Montagues? Whom will you side with?

*Rehearsals Romeo & Juliet, 2019 Photo: Dora Lutz*

*Romeo & Juliet Rehearsal, 2019 Photo: Dora Lutz*

Why do I direct Shakespeare plays?

My first theatre experience was – as with most of us – at elementary school. We staged a play about the history of the Monastery of Andechs, I played a damsel, and it went all wrong. I vowed to never touch theatre again, off or on stage, until I started studying literature. The first Shakespeare play I directed was Richard III at Greifswald University, the rest, as they say, is history.

Being an introvert, directing gives me the means to express what I might otherwise not be able to communicate.

Being a Shakespeare geek, directing allows me, with cast & crew, to share Shakespeare’s words and his stories.

Being passionate about theatre, directing gives me the chance to put my own vision onto stage.

Having studied at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon and having lived there for three years, exposed me not only to an intense study time of Shakespeare and his works and everlasting friendships with many wonderful fellow-Shakespeare geeks (let us not forget those wonderful nights at the Dirty Duck when, after a couple of pints, we indulged in animated discussion about some footnote or other rendition of Shakespeare’s lines), but also to a vivid exploration of his plays on stage through the RSC, as well as countless trips to theatres in London.

When I returned to Munich in 2014, I became a drama teacher at the ESM, founded the ESM Players who premiered with Midsummer Night’s Dream. We then moved to Richard III, Macbeth and Shakespeare’s Complete Works.

ESM Players, 2016

Since you can never have too much Shakespeare in your life, I also started directing with Entity Theatre in 2014, one of Munich’s finest English amateur theatre club. My first production that summer was a 60-minute-adpation of Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring Lederhosen- and Dirndl-wearing lovers that escape the harshness of Athens.

*Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2014 Photo: Tom Hafner*

The following year, we embarked on Merry Wives of Windsor. We set it in Early Modern time, with colourful costumes and Sir John Falstaff prominently featuring a cod-piece, and even the set stepped up in elaboration: four doors! Not bad outdoor theatre, right?

*Merry Wives of Windsor, 2015 Photo: Ken Lawler*

In 2016 we presented As You Like It. The real stars were the sheep. This was also the first year in which a heavy rain shower doused cast, crew and audience, but no-one wavered. The show must go on! And on it did go.

*As You Like It, 2016 Photo: Ken Lawler*

2017 marked a new start with the Shakespeare summer open air productions. We moved into a new home: the Theatron at Westpark. Our debut there was Twelfth Night. The stage naturally offered itself to a fantastic shipwreck, the permanently installed stage allowed us to present Lady Olivia’s house. Note the shingles!