In the new production of “Salome” Michiel Dijkema not only directed, but also designs the sets.
Monday morning 10 Clock: Design sample on the sample stage. All actors of the production for the first time meet each other: singers, playwrights, technicians, lighting technicians, tutors, costume designers, makeup artists and the director. In the new production of “Salome” Michiel Dijkema not only directed, but also designs the sets. The story of Salome, he says, had impressed him since his student days. So the drama “Salome” was his first staging at all. Now, however, he worked in Wuppertal Strauss’s 1905 opera version of the same name created drama of Oscar Wilde. As is usual for a design sample, the singers learned today for the first time details about the set design, the costumes and the directorial concept.
The title character Salome is usually depicted with the head of John the Baptist, a very prominent theme in art history: Her story inspired not only wild, but also numerous other artists like Sarah Bernhardt and Lovis Corinth. The latter created the stage design for Max Reinhardt’s theater staging in Berlin in 1902. This performance again visited Richard Strauss and left them inspired for composition and libretto of an opera – his “Salome”.
The Wuppertal “Salome” Actress Cristina Baggio will be reflected in an impressive, yet simple, stage design. The one-act play is situates in the backyard of the palace of King Herod, the stage is designed to be compact and so provides the singers bib for development. Michiel Dijkema has brought some costume designs of costume designer Tatjana Ivschina and shows the team the colorful sketches: They combine various styles and epochs and support the timelessness of the subject. “Salome” is a story so Dijkema, which leaves plenty of room for stories since the Biblical source. This now has in the rehearsal period to fill up “Salome” on 17 April 2015 Opera House celebrates its premiere.
http://www.wuppertaler-buehnen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/navigation/programm/download/Preview/Preview-4-2015.pdf