Edel A friend sent me the link to the casting. I was intrigued, so I applied. I was curious to see how far I’d get in the selection process. They were doing an experimental opera on the subject of ageing and dying. You had to be ok with being naked on stage. At first I didn’t really take it seriously. Eberhard At my age nudity shouldn’t really be an issue for me. The experimental aspect was what tweaked my interest. Growing up in a village and then in a small town in my teens I did my share of acting in plays. I can still remember the buzz it gave me. And now my interest in my early decades is being rekindled.

Alexander At our initial meeting we familiarised ourselves with the music. It was clear, too, what the stage set would look like. Jürgen It’s a bit like a spider’s web strung above the stage. In amongst it there are three norns standing on high stelae. They’re weaving and holding threads which are then abruptly severed, leading lumps of clay to fall to the ground. VAL You intuitively get what’s going on. Clay, fabric, norns, mythology, archaic practices… everything is interwoven. All my life I’ve thought of myself as a fairy or vampire. The first time we got together we had a great time acting and trying stuff out. Alexander Director Franziska Angerer asked us what games we’d played as kids. That led to a scene where we play musical chairs. It’s pretty funny watching a couple of elderly people playing a children’s game but in slow motion – and getting plastered in clay in the process – in bathing costumes at rehearsals, later in the nude.

VAL I’m an artist, a fashion model, I do contemporary dance. I’ve worked as a life model for thirty years. I think it’s important that people see a person’s age, that the process of ageing is not concealed. Everyone’s physique is ultimately subject to the law of gravity. It’s all about depicting the cycle of life. Jürgen In the beginning we are all centred beings, crouching, huddled, foetal. We sense what envelopes us, gradually venture outwards, discover other people. Baring everything is part of that. Edel Everyone moves in their own way, following their own life melody. Alexander Franziska asked each of us to name a favourite song of special personal significance. Mine is »Chelsea Hotel« by Leonard Cohen. Edel Mine is »Let it rain red roses for me« by Hildegard Knef. I like the song’s all-or-nothing attitude. Jürgen In my mind »Stand by me« means that, whatever the slings and arrows, I can go on, because I can turn to someone and feel that I’m being carried.

Alexander Towards the end our movements get slower, more fragmented, which fits with the ageing process. Edel When a clod of clay falls to the ground, the situation of one of us changes. Eberhard You sit down and get encased in clay by the others. You return to earth, you become a monument, coming full circle. As an 80 year old I’m thinking a lot more about death anyway than I did when I was 70. Not long ago I got quite close to my brother in his final years. It’s one of those affairs you have to put in order. For us »seniors« it’s very nice to watch close at hand a young team of creatives exploring the subject of mortality in such a serious and artistic manner. The singing is moving, by turns dramatic, mellow and wistful. The music is packed with variation and extremity of mood. It never ceases to touch you.

Edel I have to say, the thought of death really scares me. I have these thoughts of being lonely, of being alone for eternity in the dark earth. I know it’s a childlike way of thinking, but it is what it is. As for the nudity, I’ve decided to do it gradually, garment by garment. And if I’m going to be naked on stage, then it’s got to be with these guys! VAL I’m not scared of death at all. I quite like the idea of going back to being one with the whole. It’s the prospect of a drawn-out illness that frightens me. Self-determination is important to me, and that includes a living will – which I really must get round to drawing up.

Jürgen I wish I could experience ageing and dying as a kind of reverse birth. George Tabori once said: »I’d like to die as I was born, but in reverse, in a rose.« Blossoming and wilting: it’s lovely to be acting that out. Edel I feel the same way. Eberhard Me too. Alexander I love the work. It’s exciting and beautiful. I breathe in the air of the theatre in great gulps. VAL I’m the same. We’re players. And as long as we’re playing, we’re still here.