[International Distribution]

THE MAKING OF BERLIN

“How far does the factual side have to shift before you think: Okay, now it’s fiction?”

The making of Berlin is a portrait of a city. It is built around the extraordinary story of Friedrich Mohr, a Berliner who was the Berliner Philharmoniker’s orchestra stage manager during WWII. The making of Berlin – with live horn music – offers an unfiltered look at BERLIN’s work process. But above all, it tells the story of one of the“unbrave”who failed to stand up when fellow Jewish musicians and friends were expelled from the orchestra. The making of Berlin is the final part of the Holocene cycle, during which BERLIN made several portraits of cities over the past twenty years.

BERLIN helps Mohr to realize an as yet unfulfilled dream. At the end of WWII, the conductor of the Philharmonic decided to perform Siegfried’s Funeral March from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung one last time. The performance would be broadcast live on German state radio. Rehearsing with the entire orchestra in one location soon proved too dangerous due to ongoing bombing. So the conductor divided the orchestra into seven segments and had them rehearse in separate bunkers. Faltering [recording] technology threw a spanner in the works.

21 - 22 November 2025, YOUNG Theatre, Shanghai, China

Cast and Creatives

Production: BERLIN

International Touring (China): Tempest Projects

Direction: Yves Degryse

Technical direction & scenography: Manu Siebens

Videography and Editing: Geert De Vleesschauwer, Fien Leysen, Yves Degryse

Composition: Peter Van Laerhoven

Production Management: Jessica Ridderhof

Live Sound Mixing: Arnold Bastiaanse

Actors: Yves Degryse, Koen Goossens

Horn: Eitaro Sakamoto