Dresses, mirrors, accessories… The reserves of the Opéra de Bordeaux conceal treasures of all kinds. And the director Stéphane Braunschweig had the idea of ??using this stock to prepare his Mozart Requiem. But there was no question of reusing just a simple dress or a mirror: accompanied by Emmanuel Hondré, General Manager of the establishment, the man challenged himself to orchestrate a “zero purchase” show, as he explained to our colleagues at La Croix. A first in France.
“We may be at the end of the cycle where we buy, store and destroy”, presents Emmanuel Hondré. From then on, “the artists’ imagination” was “stimulated differently” and the reserves were transformed into “a veritable laboratory” for arranging mirror frames, canvases, dresses, wigs and other scenic elements. A transformation that paid off: present during a performance, our colleagues saw nothing but fire!
An ecological gesture, which would also be economical, since by offering “a second life to dormant materials”, the Bordeaux Opera saved 40,000 euros. “In addition, the” zero purchase “accords to the refined style of my shows which focus more on the human than on the ornamental”, assures the director. It is above all a nice snub to the central theme of the Requiem, namely death.
And the circular economy advocated by Emmanuel Hondré and Stéphane Braunschweig does not stop there. Although well stocked, the Opera’s reserves did not have enough wood to make the coffins necessary for the needs of the play. Never mind, the director has traded a few show tickets for the raw material needed for La Caisserie bordelaise. Something to delight the employees of this company. An example to follow.
