Opening Night at the Großen Schauspielhaus - Berlin 1927 PC

Join three protagonists-first-time visitor Walter Schatz, celebrated singer Fritzi Massary, and young lighting technician Otto Kempowski-on guided tours through Berlin's Große Schauspielhaus in 1927. Explore the expressionistic foyers, colossal auditorium, and theatre engineering spaces in this free-to-play virtual reality experience. Historic artefacts from Stadtmuseum Berlin and other archives, like posters, props, and technical apparatus, enrich the digital exhibits within the traversable architecture. This PC project revives Max Reinhardt and Hans Poelzig's visionary 20th-century theatre, known as the "dripstone cave," alongside Erik Charell's Golden Twenties musical revues. Protagonists bring the spaces to life as you peer into its past spatially. History and architecture enthusiasts find a detailed window into bygone theatre days.

Three protagonists each invite us to join them on their unique journey down memory lane at the Grosse Schauspielhaus in Berlin. First time visitor Walter Schatz accompanies us through the impressive foyers and the colossal auditorium; celebrated singer Fritzi Massary offers a peek into the cosmos of a star; young lighting technician Otto Kempowski guides us through the fascinating world of theatre engineering. Thus we peer through a digital window to visit the famous theatre’s past and explore its art and architecture spatially in the here and now.

In 1919, theatre impresario Max Reinhardt and architect Hans Poelzig created one of the most visionary theatres of the 20th century in the heart of Berlin. Its expressionistic design, pioneering theatre technology and an innovative stage area made for an iconic piece of architecture, fondly referred to as the “dripstone cave”. Throughout the Golden Twenties theatre director Erik Charell’s musical revues brought the glamour of Broadway to Berlin.

Though the building is no more, a virtual reality experience allows us to visit Berlin’s bygone theatre days at the Große Schauspielhaus in 1927. A special feature of this project: historic artefacts from the Stadtmuseum Berlin and other archives are incorporated into the virtual narrative. Digital exhibits including posters, props, technical apparatus tacitly broaden our knowledge.

The unique architecture provides a traversable exhibition space that comes alive through our protagonists.

DTHG 2021 - Im/material Theatre Spaces
A project by digital.DTHG (Commission for Digitality and New Technologies of the German Theatre Technical Society) and the Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin.
Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media, 2019-2021. The project is based on the concept "One Show - Ten Perspectives", by Rebecca Eisele, Elena Kunau, Dominique Lauvernier and Lea Schorling.

Project Team digital.DTHG

• Project Management: Pablo Dornhege, Franziska Ritter
  
• 3D Art & Reconstruction: Sascha Sigl, Pablo Dornhege
  
• Development: Lea Schorling, Sascha Sigl
  
• Script: Ralph Tharayil
  
• Sound: Lorenz Fischer
  
• Curation: Franziska Ritter, Rebecca Eisele
  
• Illustration: Regina Hapel, Pablo Dornhege
  
• Graphic Design: Maria Bürger
  
• Subtitles: Julie Kamprath
  
• Controlling: DTHG GmbH, Hubert Eckart

Project Team Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin

• General Director: Berndt Schmidt
  
• Project Management: Guido Herrmann
  
• Technical Director: Thomas Herda
  
• Archive: Gero Konietzko
  
• Script Editing: Johanna-Friederike Krüger
  
• Project Coordination: Nora Botzenhardt

Voice Actors / Musicians

• Narrator: Roman Knižka
  
• Walter: Sven Brieger
  
• Fritzi: Sabine Arnhold
  
• Otto: Max Schimmelpfennig
  
• Supporting Roles: Florian Krüger-Shantin, Heide Domanowski, Jasper Domanowski, Johanna-Friederike Krüger
  
• Violin: David Wedel
  
• Piano: Andreas Wenske

Partner Archives:
Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin - Theatersammlung, Theatertechnisches Kabinett der Oper Leipzig, Architekturmuseum der TU Berlin, Stiftung Technikmuseum Berlin