Interview with Elliot Musche – on writing your own plays

H: So straight away: I watched your last theatre piece and thought it was really cool. 

E: That makes me happy! 

H: Whilst watching, I had the feeling that you don't give much thought to how your piece comes across and you place more value on trying out all sorts of things. Is that the case? 

E: Yes, that's actually the last thing that interests me – whether someone likes it. Fundamentally, I couldn't write what others want. Friedrich Dürrenmatt put that very, very well back in 1980: theatre and rehearsal time are a very intimate process and then the audience comes along – the disruptive factor. 

And when I have an idea and I want to make something from it, like with "Wars in Their Twenties" for example – I just thought the idea was brilliant – then I do it. 

H: Yeah, cool. That's exactly what I like about self-written pieces: that you can shape ideas and experiment with yourself – and you do that in a very individual, distinctive style.  

E: Thank you very much! 

H: On a scale of 1 to 10: how stressful was the performance week for you? 

E: Actually, I'd place it somewhere between 7 and 10, a bit vaguely. The two or three weeks before were very draining and stressful for me. During that time I also handed over a lot of work to Kristina, who looked after the direction with me. She pulled everything through with tremendous strength during that time. 

H: Were there any problems or bottlenecks? 

E: The weekend before the premiere, the lighting still wasn't programmed because we had some ideas for the set design only during the dress rehearsals. The LEDs were soldered together by Daniel and Lukas within 24 hours. 

We were all basically dead, but it was definitely worth it. 

H: It was, yes! I'd already seen the set design in the Mensa beforehand and got curious straight away. I also thought the sound effects of the door were amazing! 

E: (laughs) The door bothered me the most, I think – I made that. Not programmed it, but played it, and I realised again how important very precise sound cues are. Sometimes the sound was a bit delayed and I don't want that to happen again. 

H: Yeah, I understand. 

E: But yes, lessons will have been learnt from that. Other pieces can only benefit from it. 

H: Definitely! 

H: A question about the set design: did you have a clear picture in your head from the start of how the stage should look, or does that develop over time?

E: I had the three doors in my head, the LED light was an idea from Daniel and otherwise the set design turned out completely different from how I'd imagined it. At first I wanted a completely white stage to better highlight the emotional coldness of the piece, but lighting a white stage is supposed to be very dodgy. Many ideas only came in the last three weeks. 

H: Is it a problem for you when something turns out differently than planned? 

E: Fundamentally, I see theatre pieces – even if there's an ending at the end – as unfinished works. They only become complete on stage. The written and the performed are completely different worlds and even if I've thought about things beforehand, I have absolutely no problem interpreting them completely differently in the production. 

H: In other words, you're open to input and the actors are allowed to bring their own ideas? 

E: Basically yes. There are a few corners where I'm really pedantic because I want them exactly that way, but in this piece that was only four sentences, for example. 

H: I always think it's good when a piece grows with all the people involved. In the end you can tell when the whole team is behind a piece. 

E: Absolutely. 

H: How long have you actually been writing? 

E: I can give you an exact date. 

H: Wow, okay. 

E: I started writing on 26 July 2014.

H: How old were you then? 

E: I was twelve. And with my father watching the most important film of my life: Transformers 4. And this film ends with a brutal cliffhanger. And now imagine: a 12-year-old boy watches three hours of robots transforming into cars and dinosaurs – that was just awesome – but the open ending annoyed me so much that I wrote a fifth part at home. 

H: (laughs) That's a great reason to start writing! How long was the sequel? 

E: About twenty pages. 

H: Yeah, nice, really cool. Was that the moment you established writing as your new hobby? 

E: Yes. But the reasons why I wrote changed quite a lot over time.  

H: What does your writing process look like?

E: Well, first I jot down a few ideas that I think are really cool, and then I just start writing. 

H: Is there a notebook where you note down how the story should develop and how the characters relate to each other? Or does that develop from the writing itself? 

E: Basically, my notebooks contain the raw material. When I then start writing on the laptop, I begin with the text itself and see what happens. 

H:  Okay. So the recent pieces you've performed at the Studi(o)bühne were texts from ideas that just came to you and that you wanted to do something with?

E: Yes. With the piece "Everything is Full of Gods", I can also name another source of inspiration: one of my favourite rappers released an album with the same title as my piece. And I heard the song "Jamais-vu" and thought: Harland and Aura. Two people who somehow can't be with each other, but also can't be without each other. 

H: Very cool. So you draw a lot of inspiration from music as well?

E: Yes, among other things.  

H: When did you first have the thought that you wanted to bring what you write to a stage? 

E: That came in the winter season 2023. I performed in a piece where the director inspired me a lot. And the rest came together after that. 

H: How many pieces have you already performed? 

E: "Wars in Their Twenties" and "Everything is Full of Gods". So two. 

H: And there's more to come? 

E: Next is "Those Who Dance with the Boxes".

H: That's right, I'm looking forward to that too! I'll definitely be in the audience. Do you plan to direct all your upcoming pieces or could you imagine handing over the direction at some point? 

E: I could imagine it. If I ever reach a point where I finish writing something and I know someone wants to direct, I'd actually find that much more interesting than doing my own pieces. 

H: That's true, it would also be interesting to see where your own piece develops then. 

E: Yes, I'd really, really like to experience that. 

H: Would you describe writing theatre pieces as a hobby? Or are you working towards something? 

E: Yes, I'd say it's a hobby that I'd also very much like to keep. Simply because it also brings me forward a lot as a person. 

H: That's lovely! Is there something you want to give to people with your pieces? Earlier you said the audience was the disruptive factor, but do you perhaps still want people to take something away with them? 

E: Well, with "Everything Full of Gods" it was important to me that people think: it shines beautifully. (laughs) Joking aside – what people take away from the piece at the end or not is actually rather irrelevant to me. I've also been asked what the message of my pieces is… but I'm the last person who can answer that. 

H: Okay. 

E: You take out of the piece what you take out of it for yourselves. What I of course don't like is when a piece is radically misinterpreted. That happened a lot with my poetry performances back then. But in the end people take out of the piece what they take out. I just offer raw material for their thoughts. 

H: But you do want people to think about it a bit after the piece, don't you? 

E: Yes, so I don't write just for entertainment value. It's good to stimulate one or two thoughts. But even if people absolutely hate the piece, I take that as a compliment. 

H: Because it provoked emotions. 

E: Because it provoked emotions. I even have a hater who once came up to me and said she wished my name would be cursed and nobody would ever perform my pieces again. 

H: Just like that or what? 

E: Yes, she said that and left. It seems to have really affected her – and these enormous emotions honoured me greatly. It was almost like a knighthood. 

H: (laughs) Sounds like a good attitude for dealing with hate. Are there any other projects of yours we can look forward to? 

E: I'll soon try my hand at a comedy. So far, you could say, people have needed a fairly strong stomach for my pieces – but in the summer semester I want to try something funny. 

H: Cool, keep experimenting, that sounds very exciting! I'm already looking forward to it. Thank you so much for your time, Elliot! Is there anything else you'd like to share with our readership? 

E: If you've read this far: thank you very much for having enough interest in this piece and also in me as Hannah's interview partner – thank you for reading! 

– written by Hannah Lehmann (in conversation with Elliot Musche)