A project by: Kathrina Hülsmann (Violal), Marc Jungreithmeier (Video), Andi Otto (Music), Anna Peschke (Art), Katharina Pfänder (Violin), Dominik Steinmann (Scenography), Lisa Stepf, (Cello and Artistic Direction) Sophia Stepf (Artistic Direction) / Kathrin Meyer (Consultation), Sonia Dipi (Video Documentation), Alice Harrison (Production Assistant), Marit Buchmeier, Lisanne Grotz / xplusdrei Produktionsbüro (Management)
Funded by Fonds Darstellende Künste aus Mitteln der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Rahmen von NEUSTART KULTUR
With process funding from the NEUSTART KULTUR program #TakeHeart of the Fonds Darstellende Künste, they had the opportunity to devote themselves artistically to the forest. “The topic has been in my drawer for almost a decade,” says Sophia Stepf. However, in the production contexts for independent groups, which are focused on premieres and touring, working outside the black box theater is hardly possible. “Process funding is a blessing in disguise.”
Finally, it was time to head outdoors for musical, theatrical and artistic research among the spruce, pine and beech trees. A team of seven artists - director Sophia Stepf, string players from Lisa Stepf's Quartet PLUS 1, a documentary filmmaker, a theater maker and Dominik Steinmann, a trained cabinetmaker who is familiar with working with wood. During ten days of research in Brandenburg, Flinn Works were able to observe a queer collective of forest workers felling eight pine trees on a private property. “It was incredibly performative,” says Lisa Stepf enthusiastically. “We interacted musically with chainsaws and chippers and improvised with Dominik on the milling machine,” says the cellist. The machine is amazingly musical and can produce a variety of pitches. “Mastering a cello and a milling machine is both a craft. We have that in common,” says Lisa Stepf, describing the connection at eye level between those involved in the research process.