Theatre — 2025
Theatre photos, Rhine-Neckar: Wildfang, ‘Das perfekte Geheimnis’
Two days before opening night I was with the Wildfang theatre company: ‘Das perfekte Geheimnis’ by Paolo Genovese, an evening among friends where everyone puts their phones on the table for all to see. What could possibly go wrong? :D I shot using only the stage lighting, in colour for the mood and in black and white for the faces.
Theatre photos for the Wildfang company in Eppelheim
The Wildfang theatre company from Eppelheim has been performing since 2010, run entirely by volunteers on, in front of and behind the stage: one or two plays a year, plus an improv group. In autumn 2025 it was ‘Das perfekte Geheimnis’, Paolo Genovese’s comedy based on his own film. Three women, four men, seven phones. It was staged in the St Franziskus Catholic parish hall in Eppelheim, five performances, all sold out.
Photo call in real stage lighting
I took the photos at the photo call on the Tuesday evening before opening night. By then the company is already performing in costume and under the show lighting, just without an audience yet.
I didn’t use flash. A flash would flatten the light the lighting crew had come up with for each scene, the blue of the curtains, the violet, the warm fairy lights, and it would pull the performers out of the scene. Instead: two cameras with fast lenses, high ISO settings and fast shutter speeds, so that even quick movements stay sharp. One for the stage as a whole, the other with an 85mm wide open for the close moments, a face, a gesture.
Colour or black and white
The set lives on its colours, which is why most of the pictures are in colour. Where it’s about faces, gestures and tension, I went for black and white: without colour, what remains is light, shadow and expression, and whatever is happening between the characters comes to the fore.
In a comedy timing is everything, and that goes for photography too: the picture has to come at the very moment the scene turns, not a second later. At the end the whole cast gathered on the sofa, once in costume and once already half in their everyday clothes, the people behind the roles.
The photos in use
The company shows the photos on its website, in its picture gallery and in the slideshow for the revival. Because in autumn 2026 ‘Das perfekte Geheimnis’ is coming back to the stage, on 30 and 31 October and 1 November.
- Location
- Eppelheim
- Year
- 2025
- Genre
- Theatre
