True handwriting of any theatre director cannot actually be decoded by watching the finished product, the performance itself, but only during the rehearsal process. This world behind the scenes is usually off-limits to outsiders, especially if a well-known and successful director conducts rehearsals at a major theatre. One of the most influential and distinguished contemporary directors, Thomas Ostermeier, is a typical example of those theatre makers who do not normally admit observers to their rehearsals. At least three times, however, he made an exception: twice for academical reasons and once for a film crew shooting a documentary about his rehearsing method “Storytelling” for the French channel ARTE. I was myself one of the academics who had access to the hidden world of Ostermeier’s theatre as a participant observer when I was collecting material for my dissertation. Professor of European Theatre Peter M. Boenisch worked with Ostermeier in 2015 and together they co-edited a volume about the oeuvre of “the most internationally recognized German director of the present”. As a participant observer of Ostermeier’s rehearsals of Death in Venice focusing particularly on his rehearsing method and as a researcher of Thomas Ostermeier’s directorial work, I will portrait him in my paper as a creator of his own methodical approach to directing, bearing Brechtian, Stanislavskian, and Meyerholdian features. The “Storytelling” method “does not revolve around the character, but introduces elements of personal experience from the actor’s real life”. This method is accurately illustrated in the ARTE documentary that shows Ostermeier rehearsing Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull at Théâtre Vidy in the Swiss city of Lausanne. In my paper I will present my personal observation experience alongside examples from the documentary.
Victoria Volkova was born and raised in Moscow (Russia). She studied German, English, Linguistics, and Pedagogical Anthropology at Moscow State Linguistic University. Her interest in theatre dates back to her schooling during which she participated in theatre performances that were part of her school’s curriculum. In addition to her regular studies, Victoria also attended a theatre course on Michael Chekhov’s acting technique in Moscow, which was an impulse for her to investigate the concealed potential of improvisation in her postgraduate studies.
As a doctoral student in the International Research Training Group InterArt Studies at Freie Universität Berlin (2010–2015) and as a participant observer, she attended rehearsals at Berlin’s major theatres such as the Hebbel am Ufer, the Deutsches Theater Berlin, the Berliner Ensemble and the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz. Her subsequent research was based on her observations at the rehearsals. At the Schaubühne she observed and then commented on the rehearsal process of Thomas Ostermeier during his work on Death in Venice in 2012.
In December 2016 Victoria defended her dissertation titled The Constitution of the Role Character Via Social Emotions During the Rehearsal Processes supervised by professors Erika Fischer-Lichte and Christoph Wulf. Dr.des. Victoria Volkova is currently preparing her thesis for publication in Berlin. Her research interests include methodology, history, and ritualism of rehearsals, acting techniques, improvisation, and social emotions.