NIKOLAI KUCHIN

STAGE DESIGN AND SCENOGRAPHY

INSIDE OUTSIDE EUROPE

One stage design, four plays, four theatres
Part of European Capital of Culture programme
Theaters of Freiberg, Chemnitz, Plauen, Annaberg-Buchholz
2025

The four new plays, commissioned for the European Capital of Culture festival in Chemnitz, tell of clowns and laughter in Europe, of entanglements with German fascism, of homeland and of migrant experiences. A unified stage is a barrier between ,fortress Europe’ and the outside world that gets built, broken and ultimately dismantled during the performance.




Directed by Petra Ratiu, Tamó Gvenetadze, Karen Breece and Jasmin Zamani
Dramaturgy and Idea of Gundula Hoffmann, René R. Schmidt, Luise Curtius, Asia Schreiter
Technical Direction and Production Management by Norbert Richter and Sebastian Blei
Designed in collaboration with Tina Hübner

Full ensemble and technical production credits available on Theatre Chemnitz website
CAFE D’AMOUR

A new musical
Stage and Props Design
State Theatre Augsburg
2025

In a fast-paced dating adventure four actors enter a fictional Cafe d’Amour in a search for love. But the later the evening, the more interesting the guests - the four actors portray more than a dozen characters - and musically instigated by the bar pianist, one catastrophe soon follows another.

The mobile stage, adapted for touring requirements, blends the physical and digital aesthetics reflecting the way modern dating functions.

Directed by David Ortmann
Idea and Dramaturgy by Tamara Steber, Sarah Mössner and David Ortmann
Musical Direction by Paul Etschberger
Costume Design by Katja Schröpfer
Lichting Design by Thorben Grziwa
Technical Direction by Philipp Dahlke
Starring Gerald Fiedler, Thomas Prazak, Mirjana Milosavljević and Julius Kuhn





A YOUNG SWALLOWMAN

A new play by Laura Santos
Festival ,Neue Zeit, Neue Dramatik’
Munich Kammerspiele
2023

Laura Santos’ new play is set in Argentina, in the Rio Negro Valley. A truck overturns and empties its entire load of cows on the road. Locals approach the scene of the accident to secure the best cuts of meat in a brutal slaughter. Teenage girls Belinda and Mora witness this scene and attempt to rescue a calf, but Mora disappears without a trace.

Over the course of the play, we discover a dense network of relationships and the structures of a social order that make young women disappear, silence them, torture them and finally kill them.

Early in the play the stage is engulfed in an avalanche of black ashes, creating a messy field on which fights and slaughter take place. A sense of imminent danger is underscored by images of volcanic eruptions, rendering the skies black and the scenes deviod of any sense of hope.

With Frida Lang, Elisabeth Nittka, Bernardo Arias Porras, Cathrine Dumont, Jelena Kuljić, Leoni Schulz, Michael Pietsch
Directed by Florian Fischer
Lighting Design by Max Kraußmüller
Costume Design by Heloà Pizzi Mauro
Dramaturgy by Felicitas Friedrich
Associate Direction by Claudia Kaunzner
Translation by Miriam Denge
Photography by Judith Buss
MOBY DICK

Based on a novel by Herman Melville
Nymphenburg Palace Summer Festival
Produced by Ensemble Persona
2024

A red modular wharf-like structure, inspired by Yakov Chernikhovs drawings, fills the courtyard of Munich’s Nymphenburg Palace, constantly moving and reconfiguring as the hunt for the whale goes on

Directed by Tobias Maehler
Lighting Design by Matthias Wanek
Costume Design by Sarah Silbermann
Technical Direction by Christian Kern
With Peter Kempkes, Nick-Robin Dietrich, Anna März, Sophia Lahme, Tom Hospes
Music by Ondrej Zadak and Vera Drazic
Photography by Bernt Haberland
Production Management by Sandra Maehler





GARY BARLOW: A DIFFERENT STAGE

Associate Design for Es Devlin
2022

A Different Stage is a show with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and a book by Tim Firth. The show received its world premiere, close to Barlow's home town of Frodsham, in Runcorn at The Brindley before embarking on a tour around the UK.

The show tells the story of Barlow's life in his own words reflecting on his career, friendships and personal life.

The stage consists entirely of twenty one flight cases which, appearing simple at first, transform and reveal musical instruments, props and magical tricks as the story progresses.

Written and performed by Gary Barlow
Design by Es Devlin
Directed by Tim Firth and Séimí Campbell
Lighting Design by Bruno Poet

Initial Production at the Brindley, Runcorn
Subsequent Productions at the Duke of York’s Theatre and UK Tour