We chatted to Akimbo Theatre’s Flo Wiedenbach about bringing the story of Lotte Reiniger to the stage.
How did you first come across Lotte Reiniger’s story? A former member of our company suggested her story when we were looking for ideas in the pre-production process. It immediately caught our imaginations.
What made you want to bring her story to the stage? Most of us hadn’t heard of her, and we found this to be the case with most people we mentioned her to. We wanted to bring this forgotten history to life. This woman who was pushed to the sidelines by Disney, who claimed the title of first feature length animation with Snow White (1937), deserved to have her story told and be known about. She was a pioneer of the art form.
How has it been working on the production so far? There’s been ups and downs, naturally. We started doing historical research and R & D in 2023. Since then, the show has been growing and refining itself. We really challenged ourselves to work with new tools like the live-feed camera on stage, bespoke quick-change costumes, and live shadow puppetry, to mention a few. Going to Nordland Visual Theatre was a massive help: they built us a set that can be packed down to tour, which would’ve been extremely difficult to accomplish on our own. They also helped us perfect the costumes, and bring some of Lotte’s cutouts to life, so we have actual silhouettes from the movie (The Adventures of Prince Achmed) on stage!
What can audiences expect from the show? In true Akimbo fashion, it’s a fun and exciting mix of disciplines: physical theatre, clown, shadow puppetry, acrobatics, stage combat, comedy, drama. The story itself is also very moving. We hope audiences will leave touched, inspired, and in awe of Lotte Reiniger and her work.
How does it feel to be bringing The Animator to the Southwark Playhouse? It’s very exciting! This is our biggest production yet, and the Southwark team has been very lovely and excited to have our London premiere with them. For us it’s also a big step, a new era so to speak. We are thrilled to share this final version of the show with our audiences. Next year is the 100th anniversary of The Adventures of Prince Achmed so we’re hoping to bring Lotte-fever to the world!
What is the most interesting thing that you have discovered about Lotte Reiniger? The sheer amount of work that she did! I don’t believe she was interested in fame and fortune. She truly just loved making her films. She could cut out a silhouette as easily as some people can sketch: in mere seconds. And looking at her films, one is so taken away by the fantasy that it’s easy to forget that almost everything you see on screen was hand cut by her. During the war she travelled through Europe, collaborating with artists in all corners of the continent, until she finally landed in England.
By Emma Clarendon
The Animator continues to play at the Southwark Playhouse until the 30th August.