Pigs & People

DM Animal Farm can also be a fable for children, and there is a corresponding animated film. Because of course you can tell the story like this: Once upon a time there was a farm where animals lived who dreamed of freeing themselves from their master. They organized themselves and so on and so forth. But Animal Farm is not just that! Of course, the fable is an allegory, and the author has drawn very clear and precise parallels to a historical situation in the Soviet Union and to people like Stalin and Trotsky. Animal Farm is a social and political parable. I like the fact that the story resembles Aesop's fables, in which a moral, political or social message is always conveyed through the animals. And so Animal Farm is a story that speaks through the animals about democracy, politics, violence, harassment, injustice, totalitarianism, revolution, that is, about issues that are part of humanity and that also affect our situation today. In any case, I always wanted to avoid making it just a fairy tale for children. I wanted the animals to be symbols, even dramatic and disturbing ones. Because it's about life and death. It's about suffering and a desire for happiness.

DM That is precisely the power of Animal Farm! Namely the fact that the story - as with all classics - reaches beyond the historical circumstances of the time it was written. Orwell made specific allusions to the Soviet Union, but he also talks about the mechanisms that underlie social processes. For example, he said that the most important passage was the one in which the pigs manage to justify why they have to be given the milk. The milk: this is the most valuable thing in Animal Farm, something that everyone would like to have. The pigs, who have just seized power, convince the others by telling a lie and spreading terror. For example, they say: We have to drink milk because we have a great responsibility! And you have to take care of us because otherwise Mr. Jones might return. So: threat, fear. If you don't do this, that can happen. This governing by spreading fear is a mechanism that is often found in our society. Also to justify injustice. So you can see how the story reaches beyond the historical time in which it was written.

DM Fables don't have to be realistic. Animal Farm features pigs that can talk and join forces with goats, chickens and cows to revolt. Imagination allows you to tell stories more freely - precisely because you know it's fiction. It's the power of the mask: when an actress puts one on, it doesn't erase her personality, it makes her explosive, universal, it allows her to grow beyond the language she is speaking. So telling a story with animal masks fires the imagination. It's interesting for me because it gives me the freedom to leave conventions behind and say goodbye to realism.

DM On stage, you see animals that become humans in the end. This was also Orwell's metaphor: Animal Farm ends with a short remark saying that in the end you no longer recognize any difference between pigs and humans. The pigs, who wanted to make a fuss and differentiate themselves as much as possible from what man represents, end up taking on all his characteristics and traits. As if they were starting all over again. They become the enemy they wanted to defeat at the beginning.

DM I really don't know ... How would I change the world? Politically ... I don't know. I don't think I can change anything. I have no political power. I think the most important thing I can do as a director with my team is to try to create something exciting for the audience. That's one way to change something. Not the world. But to give emotions and do something to ensure that people go to the theater and that the stage becomes a place of life. Even in a world that is increasingly determined by technology and filtered through technology. I can try to make the stage something that is also risky, something that is uncomfortable and surprising.

DM Well, theater is political in the sense that it concerns the polis, the citizenry, the community. Just by the fact that you're taking part in an event. When I think about the future of opera, I believe that social and political issues are the most interesting. Opera in particular has the opportunity - also for the large number of people involved in a performance - to be a mirror of society and it can take a critical look at society. My dream is that we will succeed, as we did at the end of the 16th century when opera was invented, in finding a language that ideally combines words and music. And I would love it if we could find a more socially and politically focused view - like in ancient Greece. After all, I am fascinated by stories that concern the world we live in.

DM There is a moment in Animal Farm that initially gave me a headache: A scene that composer Raskatov inserted that is not part of Orwell's story. Raskatov invented a character called Pigetta, a singer who is courted by Squealer - a pig who stands by Napoleon's side (in German the name translates as "Schwatzwutz"). This scene is a quote. It's like going to the opera and seeing this singer being given flowers by an admirer. She thinks that she is receiving the flowers because of her beauty, because of her fame. But the admirer says: No, these are flowers for your grave. Raskatov used this quote, which comes from a real person from the Soviet Union, for the opera. So there is a connection between this scene and the history of the Soviet Union, which I interpreted in a surreal but also dramatic way. This has become one of the most emblematic scenes in the opera.

DM I really like the fact that Raskatov is a composer who seeks a dialog with the audience and doesn't keep his distance. He confronts the listeners. He says: "I want to write music that has a direct, popular, immediate connection to the audience. I also sense the echo of Shostakovich in his musical world. Raskatov mixes genres, plays with vocal extremes. In other words, I like him because he doesn't reduce his language to an orchestral exercise or a technical exercise, but sees the story in front of him. He himself worked a lot on the libretto to adapt it better to the theater. And he has a great theatrical flair. His music, the way in which he creates characters, is very theater-oriented. Apart from that, it was very easy to work with his music because it offers countless possibilities to create characters and a world. His music is very rich, very stirring. And I think that's very, very nice for the audience!