Song and Dance As Theatre's Staff Take on Wagner

It is well known for its on-stage nudity, sex and graphic violence. But Berlin's most controversial theatre, the Volksbühne, last night took its reputation a step further with a performance of Wagner sung almost entirely by backstage staff.

Cleaners, stagehands and ticket-punchers all appeared on stage last night in the German premiere of Wagner's three-act comedy The Mastersingers of Nuremberg. Around 45 staff took part in the chorus.

Before last night most had sung only the odd Christmas carol. The staff, who could not read music, wore jeans and T-shirts and appeared for free.

Yesterday the Volksbühne's artistic and general director, Frank Castorf, who was banished by the East German regime and took over the Volksbühne after the fall of the Berlin wall, defended his decision to dispense with professional opera singers. There was nothing wrong with using canteen staff instead, he said. "They sound amazing. Their singing is fantastic. What we have learned is that you can walk someone who is blind across the road."

He added: "It's great that people who normally punch holes in tickets or turn up hems get to be on stage. They have to act too. It's something special."

Asked whether he liked Wagner, Castorf said: "No. We are being a bit mean to him. But he deserves it a bit."

Berlin's lovers of Wagner are unlikely to be delighted by the production, which also features a set by Germany's star contemporary artist, Jonathan Meese. Meese also appears on stage, surrounded by a ramshackle wooden car. The opera has been chopped from five hours to two and a half. Instead of an orchestra there are a couple of pianos, a wind quintet and four professional singers.