DON GIOVANNI 2.0

STAGE AND COSTUME DESIGN // 2019

Submission for the Ring Award 2020 Competition in Graz, Austria, together with Director Diana Merkel.

Leitmotiv in the production is the construct of the SELF according to Sigmund Freud. Don Giovanni (Id), Leporello (Ego) and the Commander (Super-Ego) are to be understood as organisms that stand in contrast to the other singers, who are ekeing out their existence of “Morals and Culture” (also according to the definition of Freud) against a theatrical background.
In the process, the ocean becomes present in all three rooms, whether it be as a projection on a theatrical construction, as a large hanging drape or wall paper in the sterile apartment of Donna Anna, or as kitschy photo wallpaper in the mediocre restaurant rented by Masetto and Zerlina for their wedding. The ocean symbolizes the longings, the “oceanic feeling” as explained by Freud, of all the opera’s performers.